Loramie boys basketball wins big Loramie boys basketball wins big
The Fort Loramie Redskins boys basketball team, 6-3 (3-2), picked up a Shelby County Athletic League (SCAL) win over the Houston Wildcats, 0-7 (0-6), on the road on Dec. 22, 63-23.
The Redskins started the game on an 11-0 run, as they held the Wildcats scoreless for the first 5:41 of the game. The Wildcats three pointer with 2:19 left in the first was their only basket of the quarter and they held the Wildcats to single digits in three of the four quarters.
“I thought for the last five games our defense has been pretty solid,” said Redskins head coach Corey Britton after the game. “It took one team overtime to get to 40. Defensively, I think we’re playing hard right now. A lot of things to clean up but we’ve come a long way in the last couple weeks.”
Redskin junior forward Lane Frilling added four more points after that Wildcat basket, the second being a deep jumper with his foot on the line with under 30 seconds to go, to give the Redskins a 15-3 lead.
Redskin sophomore guard Caleb Maurer added another four points and senior guard Caeleb Meyer had five points to lead the team.
Meyer ended the night with a team high 16 points while Maurer added another 10 as the top two scorers for the Redskins.
Britton acknowledged the shot making of the team on Tuesday night but pointed to the turnovers that can’t happen against stronger competition.
“if we don’t clean that up were not going to beat very many teams that’s for sure,” said Britton. “We got away with it tonight but it won’t be like that next Tuesday or the following Friday. Offensively just very sloppy.”
The Wildcats would score 10 points in the second quarter, their only quarter with double digits points, but the Redskins added 15 more points of their own to take a 17-point, 30-13 lead into the locker room.
Meyer had eight points in the quarter, with all eight coming consecutively. First, it was a drive inside to make it 22-8. Then it was a Meyer three ball in the corner courtesy of a cross court pass from senior guard Nolan Berning and with just over two minute to go in the quarter, an extra pass from Maurer to Meyer resulted in another three ball from the wing to put them up 28-8.
Two jumpers from Maurer and Redskin senior forward Collin Moore put them up 34-13 to start the second half and after a Wildcat layup, Meyer drove to the basket and was fouled with 4:33 in the third quarter. The free throw by Meyer made it 37-15.
The Wildcats would add two points, both on free throws, one from a Redskins technical foul and the other from a splitting a pair after being fouled in transition at the rim.
With about two and a half minutes to go in the third, Redskins senior guard Devin Ratermann hit a three pointer to put the Redskins up 40-18. Ratermann finished with 8 points.
The fourth quarter saw the Redskins pull away as the reserves got plenty of playing time. Redskin senior forward Isaac Maurer had six points, sophomore forward Logan Eilerman added 5 and sophomore guard Isaac Raterman added another 2.
After three straight losses two weeks ago, the Redskins bounced back with two wins last week and made it three straight with their win over the Wildcats, and now have seven days off before their next contest.
With injuries changing lineups and Britton returning from COVID19 quarantine, Britton said he likes the way this team has handled adversity early on.
“We’ve played what 9 games?” said Britton. “We’ve started five or six different lineups in those games. We’re trying to get better. Nowhere near where I think we thought we’d be or wanted to be. But Its December, as long as we keep getting better day by day, I like our chances with this group.”
“Seven days off allows us to practice,” added Britton. “If you look at our schedule we’ve played Tuesday, Friday, Saturday or Tuesday, Friday, Tuesday. We haven’t had a week full of practice since the week of Nov. 30. We’ve practiced once, played, practiced twice then played. Practice time is so important. Being able to go back to the basics and practice for five or six days in a row is beneficial to us. Two games in the next two weeks, that means eight or nine practices we can hopefully take advantage of and get better.”