BEVERLY - In a battle of undefeateds, the Fort Frye High girl's basketball team asserted its dominance and proved it is one of the toughest teams around by defeating the River Lady Pilots 63-36 in a Pioneer Valley Conference matchup in Beverly Thursday night.
Sometimes in basketball games, one or two players will stand out with great individual performances. On this night, everybody pitched in for the Lady Cadets.
"I think it was a good team effort," said Fort Frye head coach Dan Liedtke. "That's what we have to have from this group. We've got to keep that up."
Article Photos
JORDAN HOLLAND The Marietta Times
Fort Frye’s Micayla Hupp drives on a River defender during Pioneer Valley Conference girls basketball action in Beverly Thursday night. Fort Frye’s Megan Liedtke (42) and River’s Cassidy McCullough (23) observe. The Lady Cadets won 63-36.
Taylor Buchanan led Fort Frye in scoring with 11 points, but was followed closely by Micayla Hupp's 10 points and Deidra Combs' nine points. Brooke Borich and Morgan Liedtke each pitched in with eight points, and Megan Liedtke contributed seven points.
Hupp paced the Cadets with seven rebounds. Megan Liedtke had six boards, and Combs led the team with six steals and three assists.
River jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a 3-pointer from Laken Ramsey. A bucket by Hupp got Fort Frye on the board and made it 3-2. The Cadets took the lead on a layup by Buchanan to make it 8-7, and they never trailed again in the game. A fast break layup from Combs, a mid-range jumper from Borich and a 3-point play by Megan Liedtke made it 15-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Fact Box
Fort Frye 63, River 36
River 9 11 11 5 - 36
Fort Frye 15 18 17 13 - 63
River (4-1)
Jensen Caretti 4-6 0-0 8, Laken Ramsey 3-9 2-5 9, Hannah Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Emile Weaver 0-3 0-0 0, Cassidy McCullough 3-7 4-4 10, Landyn Ramsey 2-4 1-2 5, Haylee Bowers 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 13-32 9-13 36.
Fort Frye (4-0, 2-0)
Michelle Adkins 1-4 0-0 3, Shawntell Parsons 1-4 2-2 4, Brooke Borich 4-9 0-0 8, Micayla Hupp 5-7 0-0 10, Morgan Liedtke 2-5 3-4 8, Taylor Buchanan 4-9 3-6 11, Deidra Combs 4-8 1-1 9, Megan Leidtke 3-6 1-1 7, Natalie Hart 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 25-53 10-14 63.
Team stats: River: Shooting: 13-32 (41 percent); Rebounds: 15 (Caretti 8); Steals: 4 (Landyn Ramsey 2); Turnovers: 20; Team fouls: 8. Fort Frye: Shooting: 25-53 (47 percent); Rebounds: 34 (Hupp 7, Megan Liedtke 6); Assists: 7 (Combs 3); Steals: 14 (Combs 6); Turnovers: 15; Team fouls: 8.
JV: Fort Frye 36, River 13
Next game: Waterford at Fort Frye at 6 p.m. Saturday
Fort Frye would extend its lead to 13 points by halftime. After a basket by Buchanan made it 17-9, River's offense got a little sloppy. The Cadets recorded three consecutive steals by Hupp, Borich and Combs, which they converted into layups to make it 24-9. Overall, Fort Frye forced 20 River turnovers, including 11 in the first half.
"We knew coming in that Fort Frye would probably be the best team we would play all year," said River head coach Rick Isaly. "They're well-coached, and they're fundamentally sound."
The third quarter was more of the same, beginning with buckets from Combs and Borich, and ending with a layup by Hupp at the buzzer to extend the lead to 50-31. As River got a little momentum in the quarter, with the score at 41-27, Fort Frye's Michelle Adkins hit a 3-ball followed by a layup from Combs to give the Cadets a little cushion.
In the final quarter, Natalie Hart came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer and Megan Liedtke had a putback to make the score 61-36 in Fort Frye's favor. Two made free throws by Shawntell Parsons made the final score 63-36.
"I knew they were gonna come in, definitely ready to go and come after us," Liedtke said. "I thought we played well at first. We weren't consistent enough, but it's still early. We're gonna keep working on it."
For River, Cassidy McCullough was the leading scoring with 10 points. Ramsey finished with nine points while Jensen Caretti had eight. Caretti also had a game-high eight rebounds.
Fort Frye outshot River 47 percent (25-for-53) to 41 percent (13-for-32). Both teams shot well from the foul line, with Fort Frye going 10-for-14 and River going 9-of-13. The Cadets held a big advantage in rebounding with 34 to River's 15, and also won the turnover battle 20-15.
The Cadets improved to 4-0 (2-0 PVC) with the victory, while River fell to 4-1. Fort Frye also won the junior varsity game 36-13.
The Lady Cadets are back in action in a non-conference game at home against Waterford at 6 p.m. Saturday.
