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Cadets roll past Bridgeport in sectional

MIKE MORRISON The Marietta Times Fort Frye’s Liv Schneider, left, guards Bridgeport’s Janen Tucker (14) during a high school girls basketball sectional tournament game Thursday in Beverly.

BEVERLY — Freshman Hannah Archer tossed in a game-high 17 points including five 3-pointers to lead the Fort Frye Cadets to a dominating 49-11 win over the visiting Bridgeport Bulldogs Thursday night in a Division IV sectional semifinal.

The combination of some outstanding perimeter shooting and a defensive performance that was nothing short of spectacular were the keys as Fort Frye rolled to its 19th win of the season.

The Cadet defense did not allow Bridgeport to score a single point until midway through the third quarter as they blanked the Bulldogs in the opening half.

“It was just one of those games where we got going early and we were able to keep the intensity level up,” said Fort Frye head coach Dan Liedtke. “I was really glad because our main goal was to keep the intensity up and not let things get ugly. We wanted the ball movement and I think the girls did a really nice job.”

The Cadets jumped out to a 13-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, led by a pair of triples by sophomore Olivia Schneider.

A steal and basket by Kenzie Dalton got the Cadet scoring underway in the second quarter before Schneider, Archer and Lexie Huck connected from long range to give the Fort a football-like 24-0 lead at the intermission.

The Cadets knocked down a total of 10 3-pointers on the night including a barrage of them in the third period as they quickly pushed their lead to 34-0.

Archer hit three of her triples in the third period before Bridgeport finally got on the board when Angela Sommer connected on a trey.

The Cadets ended up out-pointing the ‘Dogs 25-3 in the third quarter to force a running clock and allow Liedtke to empty his bench.

Fort Frye connected on 10-of-22 three-point shots in the game while their defense forced Bridgeport into 23 turnovers in the game.

Liedtke feels like his team is quite capable of quickly putting points on the board thanks to their ability to shoot from behind the arc.

“We were hitting them tonight and that is something that we are going to have to continue,” said Liedtke. “That is a big part of our game and we haven’t been really consistent at it but we have that ability.”

Archer was the only Cadet to reach double figures while Dalton and Schneider finished with nine points apiece.

Fort Frye (19-4) will now turn its attention to Saturday afternoon’s sectional final in which it will face Pioneer Valley Conference rival Shenandoah at 2 p.m. in Beverly.

The Cadets downed the Zeps twice in the regular season, 60-33 back in December in Sarahsville and 52-23 late last month at home.

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