Then she smiled a little: “You come out with a win in a regional semifinal game — you’re just going to be happy and enjoy that you get to practice the next day.”
During the game Siegel had little to smile about in a 33-29 grinding, teeth-gnashing victory over Shelby County League rival Russia. It felt a lot tougher than it should have been considering Loramie turned the ball over only eight times and forced Russia into 31 turnovers.
Loramie (25-2) faces Marion Local (20-7) in Saturday’s 2 p.m. regional final at Butler. The Redskins, however, almost didn’t make it against a Russia (15-11) team it expected to handle easily. Loramie won the two regular-season games 69-31 and 60-37. Playing a team a third team when you’ve won the first two is not something coaches relish.
“It is tough, and we’ve talked about it all week,” Siegel said. “But you got to remember a team like that they have nothing to lose. So they can roll the dice.”
Russia’s defense kept Loramie in a hole with a 20-15 halftime lead. Even in the second half the Redskins never got going like they are used to.
“We confused them a little bit with our our matchup,” Russia coach Michael Bashore said. “We hang our hat on defense, and for them to only score 33 is amazing.”
Loramie’s defense turned aggressor in the second half and forced a continuous flow of turnovers from one end of the court to the other. A driving shot by Summer Hoying with 1:38 left put Loramie up for good at 31-29.
In the final minute Russia had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead. But Avery Brandewie got a fingernail on Addison Shappie’s open 3-point attempt from the left corner and Loramie survived.
“I don’t think we played effectively tonight, and I’ll give credit to Russia for that,” Siegel said. “They were intense tonight.”
The Raiders started the season 4-7 and fought back to win a district title with one senior starter in Roni Poling, who led the Raiders with 10 points, a ton of rebounds, and was the only player in the game to score in double figures.
“We’ve been preaching all year it’s not where you start the season, it’s where you end up,” Bashore said. “I‘m sure not very many people gave us a shot tonight and we had a chance to win it.”
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