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Fort Recovery's Cameron Muhlenkamp (0) and Makenna Huelskamp (22) fight for the ball against Coldwater.
COLDWATER - Sometimes all a team needs is to see one go in. For Fort Recovery, after an 0-9 start the team has now won four of seven after a 48-46 win over Coldwater at the Palace Thursday night.
"It took us a while to figure some stuff out, and we played a really tough schedule," Fort Recovery coach Tyler Deitsch said of the tough start. "But we're getting better at the things we were not good at early on."
With both teams needing a win going into the contest, a fast-paced start set the tone for the game. Eleven combined turnovers were forced in the opening quarter, and it led to Fort Recovery (4-12) taking a 15-14 lead after a Bridget Homan layup at the horn.
The Indians were 5-of-14 in the first quarter, with Makenna Huelskamp's seven points leading the way. The Cavs (5-11) were led by Brylee Knapke's six points on a pair of 3-pointers in the quarter.
While Fort Recovery kept the scoring up in the second, Coldwater's 3-of-10 mark from the field hurt its ability to keep up the pace. After both teams traded baskets over the opening two minutes, a pair of inside shots from Homan and Huelskamp gave Fort Recovery a 21-17 lead at the 4:37 mark.
The run continued after a pair of free-throws from Homan, and the Cavs called timeout soon after. The timeout only cooled both teams off over the next two minutes, until Mia Knapke got a transition layup to fall with just under two minutes left in the half. It cut the lead to 23-19, but Cameron Muhlenkamp responded immediately for the Indians.
Coldwater's Mia Knapke grabs a rebound against Fort Recovery.
Both teams got a shot to drop to end the half, and Fort Recovery took a 27-21 lead into the break. Huelskamp led the way for the visitors with nine points and as many rebounds, while the team combined to go 11-of-28 from the field.
For Coldwater, it was Harlow Heyne's eight points that paced the Cavs, while Mia Knapke added seven points herself. The team was 8-of-21 from the field, and had seven turnovers at the break.
"We played back on our heels, we were not aggressive enough. Kudos to (Fort Recovery), they came out and played really hard," Coldwater coach Amy Meyer said of the first half.
Coldwater's Harlow Heyne (30) is guarded by Fort Recovery's Emma Schmitz (24).
The pace allowed for an entertaining first 16 minutes, but the third quarter brought the pace to a screeching halt. Heyne opened the half on a layup to make it 27-23, and the sophomore got another to drop just one minute later to make it a two-point game. She added two more points later in the quarter as part of her 17-point game that led the Cavs.
Homan kept the Indians ahead on a jumper with 5:23 left but two baskets, by Heyne and then Knapke, tied the game at 29-all with 3:35 left. After that, the defenses stood tall over the next two minutes.
Five combined turnovers and one miss from the Indians led to the energy dying out a bit. It was not until there were 40 seconds left in the quarter when a field-goal was made. It was Muhlenkamp from the deep corner that put Fort Recovery up 33-30, and the score stayed there as the fourth quarter came.
The Indians opened the final quarter on a 6-2 run to open up a 39-32 lead with 4:37 left. More turnovers and misses followed, but the final three and a half minutes saw the game get back to the faster pace.
Brylee Knapke made it 39-34 on a layup off an Indian turnover, and another mistake allowed Ava Smith to nail a three. It was now just a one-point game with two minutes left. Two shots from Homan at the charity stripe kept Fort Recovery ahead, and it grew to 43-38 after Paige Hart followed suit from the line.
A three from Brylee Knapke made it a two-point margin, and Fort Recovery had to seal the win from the line. The team was able to do just that, as Huelskamp got her shots to drop, and Homan made it a 48-43 with just six seconds left. Knapke got her deep three to drop at the horn, but it only served to make the score look better.
Coldwater, after a 4-4 start to the year, will have to look to right the ship against WBL opponent Wapakoneta Saturday at the Palace.
"You just have to come back tomorrow and improve on the things that you want to work on," Meyer said about turning things around.
It gives Fort Recovery its second straight win, with both coming away from home. It's also the first MAC win of the season after the Indians began conference play 0-5, with all of the losses coming by 10 or more points. They will look to win their third game in a row Saturday against Franklin Monroe back home.
"Our girls do a really good job of figuring out what's the next thing we have to do. Getting our first MAC win of the year is huge," Deitsch said.
