Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — 36 years.
Entering Saturday’s Division VI district championship game, 1989 marked the last time that Federal Hocking had advanced to the regional tournament.
But that streak has now been laid to rest.
After Saturday’s 50-35 victory over Portsmouth West, the Lancers will be able to reset the clock as they can finally bring a district championship trophy back to Stewart.
“It feels really good,” Federal Hocking coach Amos Cottrill said. “This time last year, we played [West] and we were the group. We needed that experience. Unfortunately, we lost. But we grew up a lot from that. I thought that played a huge part in this win.”
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Early foul trouble caused some issues for the Lancers as Jaylee Orsborne and Brenlee Cottrill each picked up three fouls in the opening half of play.
But with Federal Hocking down two essential members of their backcourt, the Lancers had to trust in their deep bench to stay in the game.
They did just that.
A big triple from Addison Jackson provided a boost for FH to stay within a bucket at the break, even with West’s Brayleigh Pistole knocking down consecutive 3-pointers to help the Senators keep an 18-16 halftime lead.
“It’s awesome to be able to sub when we need to,” Amos Cottrill said. “If we get somebody in foul trouble or if something doesn’t go well, we’ve got 10 kids that compete in practice. Early in the year, we played 10 kids a lot. So I think that played into today and it was just having people ready to go.”
Coming out of the locker room, it appeared that the Lancers had the goal to get the usual high-scoring Cottrill going after a scoreless first half.
The sophomore cashed in immediately with a triple from the right of the key to grab a temporary lead. West countered with a triple of its own, this one from Hailey Carver, before the teams exchanged leads once again.
Cottrill dialed long distance again before the Senators retook the lead with a put back from Ava Potters to make it 23-22.
That would be the Senators’ last lead of the game.
The Lancers closed the third on a 13-0 run as Cottrill, Orsborne and Makayla Nelson put on a clinic to get the lead and then build on it as they headed into the fourth quarter.
All three players scored on the break, mostly due to Lancers’ stingy defense — they forced nine turnovers in the quarter. Juniper Ballew, Takira Walker and Rorie Tabler were part of that swarming defensive effort that transformed a game that was once in question into a comfortable, historic victory.
FH closed out their victory with an outstanding performance at the free throw line, eliminating any chance for the Senators to slowly chip away at the lead.
Cottrill and Orsborne combined to go 11-for-14 from the charity stripe in the second half to add to the lead before a final lay-in from Walker provided the final.
“We didn’t get rattled,” Amos Cottrill said. “We moved the ball around and made good plays. That all comes from experience and our strength of schedule this year. We’ve played some really good teams.”
West (14-11) finishes their season as a district runner-up and will return four starters next season, only graduating front-court stalwart Ava Potters.
Carver led the Senators with 13 points while Pistole added eight of her own alongside eight rebounds. Ally Buckner played excellent defense for West, pacing the Senators with five steals, while Macey Whisman blocked three shots.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
The Lancers were led in scoring by Orsborne with 15 points to go along with five assists and five steals. Nelson scored 14 off the bench for the Lancers and Cottrill finished with 11 points, all in the second half.
“[Nelson] is a great player off the bench,” Amos Cottrill said. “She had a tremendous game today. She was very poised and that’s really the first time we’ve been in a lot of foul trouble. But I felt like today was a good situation. [Nelson] would start on almost any other team in the area. So having her come in and being able to run the offense, that’s just so valuable.”
Federal Hocking now advances to play Harvest Prep (11-13) on Thursday evening at Pickerington North High School.
The two teams met earlier this season — a 67-61 win for Harvest Prep on Dec. 23.
As usual, the Lancers will be undersized in the contest. They were on Saturday as well. But they were only out-rebounded by three boards as they did well to keep the Senators off the offensive glass.
“This feels good,” Orsborne said after the win. “It hasn’t been done in a long time. We overcame adversity in this game. We just played well and made good decisions. “
BOX SCORE
West: 7-11-5-12 — 35
Federal Hocking: 11-5-19-15 — 50
West: 11-36 FG, 7-24 3pt., 6-12 FT, 22 rebounds (Pistole 8), 8 assists (Carver 3), 24 turnovers. Scoring: Carver 13, Pistole 8, Buckner 5, Whisman 4, Throckmorton 3, Potters 2.
Federal Hocking: 15-38 FG, 5-17 3pt., 15-20 FT, 19 rebounds (Cottrill 5, Tabler 5), 10 assists (Orsborne 5), 19 turnovers. Scoring: Orsborne 15, Nelson 14, Cottrill 11, Walker 7, Jackson 3.
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