Times-Reporter sports correspondent
The Hawks (27-2) shot 12-of-52 for the game and 3-of-29 from 3-point range in the 45-36 loss to the Redskins. Fort Loramie (25-4) will play Waterford at 10:45 a.m. Saturday for a state championship.
Fort Loramie led at halftime 19-18 and used a key 14-7 third quarter to get separation and hold off the cold-shooting Hawks in the fourth frame.
“Berlin Hiland has a great program and great tradition, and we have the utmost respect for coach (Dave) Schlabach and what he's done,” Fort Loramie coach Carla Siegel said. “It was definitely a defensive lockdown, but I think our leadership, with our three seniors, really helped us in the second half.”
The Redskins started the second half on an 8-0 run (Holly Frey had four). The Hawks turned the ball over two straight times and missed two shots during the run.
A Rachel Horn free throw stopped the run, but a Loramie bucket by Kelly Turner made it 29-19, and the Hawks had to claw and scratch to a 33-25 deficit entering the final eight minutes.
An Angela Troyer bucket with 6:22 left and Kennedy Schlabach triple for Hiland with 5:14 left put the Redskins’ lead at 35-30. The teams traded baskets until Fort Loramie led 39-34.
From there the victors would close out for the win.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” Schlabach said. “I told the kids that the effort was great. I thought our kids played really hard. A couple of times, I felt like we were a shot away from getting it going, but we just struggled from the perimeter.”
Schlabach said it was a mix of Fort Loramie’s length and his team simply missing shots, many of them open shots.
“I thought we got good looks,” he said. “And ultimately, we’ve shot really well all season long. Unfortunately, we didn’t shoot well today.”
Freshman Kennedy Schlabach led the Hawks with 15 points.
“We got all the looks we wanted, but they just weren’t falling,” she said. “We forced turnovers, but they didn’t turn into points,” Kennedy Schlabach said.
Sophomore Angela Troyer added 10 points and senior Megan Beachy eight for the Hawks, who surprised some people this season with losses only to Fort Loramie and Division III state semifinalist Chippewa.
“I know there were a lot of doubts preseason as to how this would go this year, but I’m extremely proud of everyone on this team,” Beachy said. “They all stepped up.”
Coach Schlabach echoed those sentiments.
“This was one of our bigger surprise years from start to finish,” he said.
Kennedy Schlabach and Beachy scored all 18 of the Hawks’ first half points, while six Fort Loramie players reached the scoring column.
For the game, Jessica Boerger had 10 points and 12 boards, while Kelly Turner added 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Janell Hoying and Frey each chipped in eight points.
