February 23, 2000

Fostoria keeps the lead over Hopewell

By Pat Magers
Sports Writer

FOSTORIA -- If the game had been roulette instead of basketball, one might have been inclined to look for one of those funny foot pedals that knock the ball out of a certain slot at the last moment.

Neil Hohman's runner from the lane, a potential go-ahead basket with eight seconds remaining, was that close before spinning out. Instead, Fostoria retained the lead, gained the rebound, and, after Micheaux Robinson hit a pair of free throws with four ticks left, earned a 41-38 non-league victory over Hopewell-Loudon Tuesday night.

"You couldn't ask for a better look," Chieftain coach Steve Adelsperger said after his club fell to 11-8. "But that shot not falling, that's not what lost it for us. Not taking care of the ball is what lost it for us."

The numbers support that thought.

Redmen defenders harassed the Chieftains into 25 turnovers, including nine in the second quarter and eight in the third. Hopewell-Loudon managed just 15 field goal attempts in the second half and hit on five. After putting 16 points on the board in the first period, the Chieftains were limited to 22 the rest of the way.

"It was a low-scoring game, but I really didn't look at it as a defensive game even though, at the end, I guess that's exactly what it was," Fostoria coach Jim Rutter said. "I really thought the key for us was to have our kids run the floor.

"There were a few times that we did that, but we didn't quite finish," he said. "Other times, maybe we'd back it off a little when we shouldn't have. We got to the point where we made a few key shots and that certainly made a big difference."

The Chieftains had the Redmen backing off big time in the early going. Andy Hiser posted up for one basket and scored on a pair of inbound power plays for a 6-4 H-L lead.

The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder went scoreless the rest of the way, but the Chieftains showed other early weapons. Hohman canned back-to-back 3-pointers, Nathan Brickner posted for two and Neil Harber added a basket for a 16-6 advantage.

Micheaux Robinson's 3-pointer started a Redmen rally in the second period. Jameson Botimer, Dane Bringman, C.J. Martin and Rob Downing scored to pull Fostoria into a tie with H-L before the Chieftains' Hohman drove the baseline for a basket that created a 20-18 halftime lead.

Hopewell-Loudon had one more successful run in the third period. Brickner (3-pointer), Hohman and Harber scored to lift the Chieftains to a 29-20 lead with 3:37 left in the quarter.

Just as quickly, the Redmen responded beginning with a basket by Botimer. It was 29-25 before Cory Maag and Martin baskets tied the game at the three-quarter mark.

The Redmen twice led by as many as five in the fourth period, the last such occasion coming at the 4:51 mark, when a Bringman hoop off a Botimer pass made it 36-31.

Harber had a pair of foul shots and Brickner nailed a 3-pointer to tie it. Bringman then followed with a basket and free throw to set up the finish, highlighted by Hohman's in-out attempt.

"I told them to call a time out and we'd work out something from there," Rutter said of the plan, had Hohman scored.

"After the first quarter, we handled the ball much better and we played better defense," he said. "We didn't stop penetration well in the first quarter. Obviously, we did a much better job thereafter. This was one of our better defensive performances of the year.

"Dane Bringman played as hard on defense as he has in any game this year," Rutter said. "Jameson Botimer got back to playing the kind of defense he'd played early in the year."

Bringman led the winners with 13 points. Robinson added nine points while Botimer checked in with eight.

But for the most part, it was work at the other end that made the difference.

"They put pressure on our wings and that made it tough to get the ball inside," Adelsperger said. "I think you have to credit their pressure, but our inability to handle the basketball contributed also.

"We rebounded well &emdash; according to our stats, Fostoria only had four offensive rebounds," he said. "But we didn't take care of the basketball. We haven't put together a full game yet. Tonight, it was turnovers, but on another night, it might be rebounding."

Harber and Hohman each had 10 points to pace the Chieftains. Brickner added eight.