UTICA — With a perfect season only minutes away, the Fredericktown High School girls basketball team stood strong against a late Utica rally on Thursday night to win, 49-42. The victory was number 20 of the year for the Freddies.
“The game had its ebbs and flows, and they weren’t going quietly. I expected nothing less,” said Fredericktown head coach Dave Logan. “We made some buckets when we needed to, and we took care of the ball. There at the end, they were really putting us under pressure, but we still took care of it.”
Utica (15-5, 11-3 Mid-Buckeye Conference) took an early 6-2 lead in the game, but Fredericktown (20-0, 14-0 MBC) worked its way back very quickly. Two 3-pointers within 30 seconds of each other from Whitney Levering doubled Fredericktown’s lead with 2:25 left in the first quarter.
“The first half we were just cold,” said Utica head coach Michelle Snow. “If we can’t score baskets, then defensively, we can’t get in and do the things we want to do. Offensively, they did a nice job.”
Utica pulled within three points by the end of the first period, 14-11, but Fredericktown soon opened up another lead. The second quarter was spent slowly adding points to the lead, and by halftime, Fredericktown was up, 26-18.
“In the first half, we weren’t taking the ball up strong, we were fading away from the basket,” said Snow. “We weren’t really balanced when we shot; it was almost like we were hurrying our shots. I think that was just nervousness.”
The second half was much more eventful than the first. In foul trouble, Utica’s Sierra Fletcher sat for most of the third quarter, and a portion of the fourth. Her skills would later play a large part in the game.
Most of the third quarter was a back-and-forth game. With 1 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter, Fletcher sat down with four fouls. Seconds later, Courtney Briegel shot a 3-pointer that stretched the Freddies’ lead 10 points, 35-25.
“She is always going to be aggressive, and she got some fouls that got her in trouble,” said Logan of Fletcher. “That’s just who she is. We knew she wasn’t going to give up, and she made some good 3s.”
At the end of the third quarter, Levering set a beautiful screen that caught Utica’s Kelly Dearman by complete surprise. Dearman fell to the ground, and Levering found herself wide open to make a play. Her layup was good, but Dearman was lying at half court in agony.
The game was paused for nearly 15 minutes while Dearman was kept from moving. Paramedics kept her head secure, fearing head, neck or back injuries. By the end of the evening, there was still no word on her condition.
Utica played very intensely in the fourth quarter, but Fredericktown stepped up to the occasion. With two minutes left in the game, the Freddies were still ahead by 10 points, 43-33.
“It was so exciting with such a large crowd,” said Levering. “We knew what was on the line, so we just went out there and played our hardest. Ever since we beat them the first game, we heard people say it was a fluke and we just got lucky. We wanted to prove tonight that we truly deserved to win.”
With just under two minutes to play, Fletcher shot a 3-pointer that spun around the rim and into the hands of Allyn Blakely. The Fredericktown guard fell as soon as she came down with the rebound, however, and a travel was called. Fletcher hit her second attempt with 1:42 remaining.
Fredericktown worked the clock, then Levering made two free throws. With 1:02 left in the game, Fletcher scored again from behind the arch to narrow Fredericktown’s lead to six points, 45-39.
Five seconds after her basket, Fletcher stole a Freddie pass. She sent the ball to Kaylee Walker, who was no good from three-point range. At the other end of the court, Marki Overholt hit on free throw, then grabbed her own rebound after the second shot missed. Blakely was fouled, and she made both her baskets to give Fredericktown a 48-39 lead.
Fletcher and the Redskins still weren’t done. From nearly 10 feet behind the arc, Fletcher shot a trey that was good, sparking one more comeback attempt from the Redskins. With Utica down by six points, Walker grabbed a steal and gave Fletcher another shot from three-point range. Fletcher missed, but got another three-point attempt only seconds later. That shot also missed, then Utica’s Abbie Corbett missed two free throws.
Fredericktown’s Mackenzie Logan hit a free throw to extend the Freddies’ lead to seven points with only 10 seconds left in the game. Walker and Corbett both took three-point attempts, but neither shot fell. Fredericktown inbounded with two seconds left, and sealed the 49-42 victory.
“Last March, we decided to focus on Utica,” said coach Logan. “We focused on them and what they do, and we practiced to beat them. With no disrespect to anyone else, if we could beat Utica, we thought we could beat everybody. It kind of worked out for us.”
Respect for the other team came from both sides of the court.
“I give a lot of credit to Fredericktown,” said Snow. “They did everything they needed to do every game, and I knew they were going to be a tough opponent this year. I knew they would be right there at the top, and when you start winning that many games, everyone is gunning for you. I want to congratulate Fredericktown on that feat, because it is not easy to do at all.”
Levering led Fredericktown with 24 points and 11 rebounds, giving her a double-double. Blakely and Ruggles each scored eight points.
“These kids worked hard and sacrificed,” said coach Logan. “A couple of them didn’t play any other sports to do this, and smalls schools can’t afford to have good athletes only playing one sport. I’m blessed that I’m the one who had them.”
Fletcher had 17 points for Utica, as well as five steals. Walker scored six points, and Corbett scored five.
Utica was able to win the junior varsity contest, 37-22. The Redskins were led by Bridget Davis, who scored 15 points. Ashleigh Gorius and Amanda Wick each scored six points in the contest. The Freddies were led by Sara Semerar, who scored nine points. Emily Gantz scored five points, and Hayley Derikito scored four points.
