Fort Loramie wins fourth Division IV state championship

Make that four banners.

The Fort Loramie girls basketball team beat Waterford 42-29 in the Division IV state championship on Saturday afternoon at UD Arena to claim their fourth state championship in the last 12 seasons.

The victory is special for the players, many of which grew up watching family members play for the program, said Fort Loramie coach Carla Siegel, who won her fourth state title.

“I coach for the girls,” Siegel said. “I don’t coach for me. This might be the fourth for the program, but … this is the first one for all the girls. I’m just so proud for them that they get to experience it. For the seniors to go out with a win in their last game, that’s just something you hold on to forever. I’m extremely proud for them and the program and all the little girls that were in the stands today that want to play and be like (these girls). … This big victory, it’s not just for us who are playing and coaching today, it’s for all the little girls in the stands.”

Junior Avery Brandewie had 17 points and eight rebounds for Fort Loramie, which finished its season 28-2. A year ago, Brandewie was injured in a D-IV regional final loss to eventual state champion Tri-Village.

“When I was injured in that game, I was disappointed,” she said. “You work all year long for that goal and to have it taken away from you in a second, it’s heartbreaking. We put a lot of hours in and we put in the work (in the offseason). That really drove me.”

Kendall Sury had a game-high 29 points for the Wildcats (24-4), which lost to Fort Loramie in the state championship game for the second time in program history.

“The game was tough,” Siegel said. “It was hard. They challenged us and we had to respond. I think we challenged them and they had to respond. We just came out on the winning side today.”

The Redskins led 11-8 after the first quarter, but ramped up their patented full-court pressure in the second quarter to grab a 20-11 halftime lead. They forced 26 turnovers in the game, scoring 16 fast break points.

“They beg to do the red press, the diamond press,” Siegel said. “They want it. We told them before the game that we were going to let them shine and let them excel. The thing about Waterford is that they were very fast. We got beat a couple times long so we had to readjust the diamond press and went to more of a full-court man press that way we weren’t losing players long. I think in the second quarter we got some steals, which helped to turn the tide for us, which was really nice.”

They led by as many as 16 points in the third quarter, but the Wildcats scored seven straight points to cut the lead to nine points. Brandewie hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to push the lead back to 33-21 to start the fourth quarter. Waterford cut the lead to nine points twice in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get any closer.

The Redskins won the state championship for the second time in four years (2021, 2024). None of the seniors saw playing time as freshmen.

This year, they wanted to hang a banner of their own, said senior Jaden Rose.

“A lot of us saw teams win in the past and we saw how much fun they had,” she said. “That put that drive in our belly that we wanted one of our own. We went out there today and got our own.”