Don't stop believin'

MARIA STEIN - Journey's 1981 hit "Don't Stop Believin''' has been the anthem for the Fort Recovery girls basketball team this season.

The Indians probably aren't jamming to that song in practice or after games, but coach Holly Gann has been preaching the same message ever since her team lost its MAC opener against Versailles on Dec. 5: don't stop believing that you can win the conference title.

After Thursday, that's a distinct possibility.

Alli Vaughn scored 16 points as 13th-ranked Fort Recovery went on the road and drubbed fourth-ranked Marion Local 58-39 - which makes it a two-way tie between the teams for first place in the MAC with two games to play.

"Our goal was always (winning the MAC)," said Gann after her team earned their sixth consecutive conference victory. "Early, we could have stopped, right? We had plenty of chances to stop playing. But the great thing about this group of girls is they just don't stop."

The Indians (13-4, 6-1 MAC) never took their foot off the gas at the Hangar.

Olivia Patch scored eight of her 13 points in the first quarter, leading Fort out to a 14-5 advantage. Marion Local (16-3, 6-1 MAC) went 1-of-9 shooting with eight turnovers in the quarter.

Fort's lead ballooned to 27-14 by the intermission - this time it was Vaughn carrying the offensive load. She scored six points in the quarter, and assisted Whitley Rammel for a last-second layup. The Flyers were within 16-10 after a Heidi Rethman 3-pointer, but Brooke Kahlig scored five straight points to begin Fort's half-closing surge.

"We knew that if we could go out there, get on a top a little bit and get them rattled, we felt like we were going to be able to make some strides," Gann said.

The momentum never swung in the second half, either. Marion Local was within 11 points early in the third quarter, but any momentum was quickly crushed thanks to an 8-0 Fort run. It began with a Marion turnover, when a Flyer coughed up the ball after being contacted by an Indians. That led to two free throw attempts for Whitley Rammel at the other end. Moments later, Kierra Wendel got two freebies after a Marion assistant was given a technical foul for arguing the previous no-push call. Wendel hit a 3 the next trip down and Rammel added a bucket to complete the run.

"We talked a lot about attacking," Gann said. "This is a huge bounce back from Tuesday (a loss to Franklin Monroe) because we did all the things right tonight. We played some unselfish basketball. We were patient with the ball. Marion did a great job. We were concerned about a couple things and the girls executed those concerns very well.

"We had great composure down the stretch," she added. "We finished. We handled the ball when we had to and made big plays."

Rethman scored eight of her 16 points in the third for Marion, which trailed 41-28 entering the last quarter. The Flyers never got close to mounting a comeback in the fourth, though.

It was the largest deficit that Marion Local has suffered in any of its three defeats this year. Afterward, Flyer coach Beth Streib gave credit to the Indians.

"They were more physical," Streib said. "We knew they were going to crash the boards and they did. We didn't stop them. They wanted it more. They deserved it. We didn't play well."

Kahlig was the third Indian in double figures with 11 points.

Molly Winner scored 10 for Marion Local, which hosts New Bremen (Feb. 6) and visits Coldwater (Feb. 13) to end MAC play.

Fort Recovery closes out MAC play by hosting St. Henry (Feb. 6) and visiting New Bremen (Feb. 13). Thursday's win puts the Indians within reach of clinching a piece of their first conference girls basketball crown since the 1990-1991 season.

"It's been quite a while. This win is big," Gann said.