LEXINGTON — All good things must come to an end.
That’s what happened to the Fredericktown High School girls basketball team on Saturday afternoon. After 25 straight wins, a conference championship, a district championship and a regional victory, the Freddies finally met their match on Saturday afternoon in the Division III Regional Final at Lexington High School.
Playing the Riverdale Falcons, the Freddies gave it all they had only to drop their first game of the year, 53-47. Riverdale withstood a strong first half from Fredericktown and put the game away by outscoring the Freddies, 37-22, in the second half, including a 19-4 third quarter.
“To be down by nine and comeback is just incredible,” said Falcons coach Maryann Holderman. “Momentum was going our way in the second half. These girls played with a purpose.”
The biggest reason for the second-half Falcon turnaround was their defensive pressure. After watching the Freddies pick apart their 1-3-1 zone, Holderman had her team switch to man-to-man for the second half. The pressure caused several Fredericktown turnovers, 14 to be exact. For the game, the Freddies turned it over an uncharacteristic 22 times.
“Our defensive intensity came up in the second half, which created a lot of our offense,” said Holderman. “I’ve been watching films over and over, and I thought we had speed on our side. I felt we could wear them down. ... We switched defenses and I think, by doing that, we were able to hedge and switch.”
“We were able to exploit the 1-3-1 a little bit and made some shots,” said Fredericktown coach Dave Logan. “They started making more shots, and we got in foul trouble, which made us less aggressive on the defensive end, especially in the third quarter. Give them credit. They took advantage of what they had to do. We knew that’s what they’d do. They did it and did a great job with it.”
Everything seemed to go the Freddies’ way in the first half. In the first quarter alone, Fredericktown shot 7-of-9 from the field and led by as many as 11. A 13-2 run to start the game provided the edge. A pair of three-point plays helped Riverdale outscore the Freddies, 8-4, in the final two minutes to pull within seven, 17-10.
Fredericktown was in foul trouble as the second quarter began. With five personal fouls in the first quarter, things continued to snowball early in the second. Whitney Levering was called for two quick fouls, and was forced to sit the bench for the final 6:20. Amazingly though, the Falcons were unable to close the gap to more than five. Layups by Emily Ruggles and Mackenzie Logan in the final minute put the Freddies up, 25-16, at the half.
Fredericktown shot 58.8 percent in the first half (10-of-17) while the Falcons managed a 7-of-22 performance. Riverdale also missed seven free-throw attempts in the half.
Taken out of their game in the first half, the Falcons were determined to get back into it in the second.
“They were shooting so well,” said Holderman. “Going in at halftime, we were getting outrebounded and missing our free throws. Those were two of the keys to the game. Our shots weren’t falling. It was tough. ... We had to improve in the second half.”
Things went south in a hurry for the Freddies to start the third quarter. Six turnovers and a missed shot highlighted their first seven possessions over the first three minutes. Riverdale forced several of those turnovers at the point as Kayla Brown and Kristi Kotterman harassed the Freddies in a full-court press. The result was a 10-0 Riverdale run in that time span. A final layup by Brown gave the Falcons their first lead of the game.
“We haven’t had that problem all year,” Logan said of the turnovers. “Foul troubles were part of it, but when we attacked against the press, we scored. When we backed down, they scored. We haven’t done that in a while. ... It is kind of disappointing.”
Fredericktown managed to trade the lead with Riverdale off jumpers by Allyn Blakely and Levering, but each time the Falcons had an answer. Kotterman scored a layup and freshman Lacey Kessler, who was playing only her fourth varsity game, hit two free throws to help retain the lead.
Perhaps the breaking point came with 2:04 left in the third when Kessler hit a 3-pointer to make it a four-point game. Kotterman added two free throws to push the lead to six, 35-29, heading into the fourth quarter.
“The back-breaker was the 3 from the freshman,” coach Logan said. “That was the one that put them over the top and got them going. We didn’t get her guarded and that’s what happens. ... I think that might have been the biggest bucket of the game.”
A layin by Mackenzie Logan and 3-pointers by Courtney Briegel and Blakely pulled the Freddies to within two, 39-37, in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, and it appeared the momentum has shifted into the Freddies’ favor. That quickly faded, however.
Riverdale stepped up its pressure, picking off four straight balls. They converted those into points on the scoreboard either through buckets or free throws. Levering fouled out during the 8-2 run, while Marki Overholt and Ruggles each picked up their fourth fouls.
Fredericktown made one final push scoring a jumper by Briegel and a 3 from Blakely to pull within three, 47-44, with 1:07 left. The Freddies were forced to foul, however, and Kotterman went to the line three times in the final 32 seconds. She hit all six shots to make it a 53-44 game. A late 3 by Blakely, who finished with 19 points, made it a 53-47 final.
“I tried not to put any pressure on me,” said Kotterman, who hit nine free throws in a row after missing her first. “I tried to stay relaxed and thought I was in practice. I told myself not to believe that all these fans were around me. I just put them in like I was in practice.”
Looking at statistics, Fredericktown should have pulled out the win. The Freddies shot better than 50 percent from the field (18-of-35), including 7-of-12 from three-point range, and outrebounded the Falcons, 27-22. Turnovers (22) cost the Freddies, however, and they were outscored in the paint, 24-14.
“We made some silly mistakes at bad times,” coach Logan said. “We traveled a couple of times and we threw it away a couple of times. Those are things we haven’t done a lot, but we’ve played 26 games. We’ve been going at this for 4 1/2 months. We were shooting the ball really well.”
Riverdale shot just 16-of-42 from the field, but managed to get to the free-throw line 31 times, hitting 18. They also won the battle of the bench, 14-8, while committing just 13 turnovers.
“That’s the first time this year we’ve played a team that plays that style and that big,” said Holderman of Fredericktown. “They are very disciplined on offense and will work it until they can get a good wide-open shot. That’s the first time I’ve seen somebody that tall play that way.”
In addition to her 19 points, Blakely had three rebounds and two assists. Briegel added eight points and three assists; Levering and Overholt had six points apiece with Overholt added four rebounds and seven assists; and Logan and Ruggles each scored four points with six and eight rebounds, respectively.
“I thought Courtney did a good job when we had to bring Whitney out. She came in and made some baskets,” said coach Logan. “I also thought Allyn played a great game. She made quite a few baskets. She has been overlooked all year. When you’ve got a kid that can shoot like she can shoot, it drives you nuts because she won’t shoot the ball enough. I though she was dynamite; she played the best game I’ve ever seen her play.”
Kotterman had 19 points, three assists and two steals to lead Riverdale. Kessler had 14 points, three rebounds and two steals, and Brown, who is the team’s leading scorer, had seven points, seven rebounds and seven steals.
While Riverdale advances to it first-ever state tournament, the Freddies are left to wonder what if. It marks the end of the line for four seniors who have won more than 70 games in their high-school careers.
“These kids have done a terrific job. We haven’t lost a game in over a year until now,” said coach Logan. “They’ve won over 70 games in four years and one year, they only won nine. They have been great. That’s what we are going to take from it. Nobody wants to lose, but somebody has to.
“This has been great. The amount of effort and time they’ve put in has been outstanding. I knew we were going to be special since the first time I saw these kids in the second or third grade when I started,” Logan said. “That’s how long ago I watched them in camps and knew they were going to be good. They got beat one time in junior high. ... They’ve won a lot of basketball games, and did a great job. To see the kids grow up is really special.”
