Turnovers cost Greenville girls basketball team in loss to Fort Recovery

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GREENVILLE – Greenville had moments when it played really well Monday night against a tough Fort Recovery team, but the Lady Wave’s 25 turnovers were too much to overcome as they lost 63-33.

While there is still a lot of room for improvement, Monday’s game was another sign of progress for Greenville girls basketball coach Rachel Kerns.

“We had moments. Last year the score was much, much worse than this year,” Kerns said, referencing last year’s 73-14 loss to Fort Recovery. “So we definitely have improved from where we were last year. Still not where we really want to be but we had moments where we definitely played all right.”

The moments where Greenville played well included both the second and third quarters. After falling behind 25-4 in the first quarter on Monday, Greenville outscored Fort Recovery 15-14 in the second quarter and played even with the visitors in the third quarter.

“You take those two quarters, we actually outscored them,” Kerns said. “We win those two quarters by one. So that was probably our bright spot.”

The first quarter definitely was the worst of the night for Greenville. The Lady Wave committed eight turnovers in the first eight minutes of the game.

“Really just unforced turnovers, too,” Kerns said. “It wasn’t even like because they were all over us. Anytime you have unforced turnovers it’s going to come back to kill you.”

Fort Recovery, meanwhile, could do almost nothing wrong in the opening period. Paced by Grace Thien, who made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the quarter, the Midwest Athletic Conference squad scored 25 points in the quarter to take a 21-point lead.

Fort Recovery’s shortest starter stood 5 feet 9 inches tall – the same height as Greenville’s tallest player. That made for a tough matchup for Greenville, and it only got harder with Fort Recovery making 73 percent of its shots in the first quarter.

“It’s extremely difficult to guard,” Kerns said.

In the second quarter Cassie Cromwell got Greenville going. The sophomore scored eight of the first 10 points in the period to cut Fort Recovery’s lead to 27-12.

“One of the best games she’s had in her two years here in high school,” Kerns said of Cromwell, who scored 11 of her team-leading 18 points in the second quarter.

With Chloe McKinney and Payton Brandenburg joining McKinney in the scoring column in the second quarter, Greenville outscored Fort Recovery 15-14 in the period and cut its deficit to 39-19.

Neither team scored much in the third quarter as Greenville and Fort Recovery both added seven points to their totals to make it a 46-26 game.

In the fourth quarter Fort Recovery started to pull away again and outscored Greenville 17-7 to win 63-30.

Cromwell led Greenville with her 18 points in Monday’s game. Also for the Lady Wave, Karsyn Shaffer scored four points, Brandenburg scored three, Kaylee Jackson scored three, McKinney scored three, and Sara Wenning scored two.

Thien led Fort Recovery with a game-high 21 points while Kendra Siefring scored 15, Whitney Will scored eight, Jocelyn Kaiser scored seven, Mikayla Post scored six, Kiah Wendel scored four, and Carley Stone scored two.

Greenville fell to 1-7 with Monday’s loss while Fort Recovery improved to 5-1.

“They’re a really good team,” Kerns said of Fort Recovery. “They’ve only lost one game for a reason, and they’re going to continue to win a lot more games than they’re going to lose.”

Greenville will return to action at 1 p.m. Wednesday at West Carrollton, who is 0-7 this season. The Lady Wave will look to build off Monday’s positives in their next game.

“I just told the girls let’s just use this game to get better for our game on Wednesday, which is a very winnable game for us,” Kerns said.

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Greenville’s Cassie Cromwell scans the floor during a girls basketball game against Fort Recovery on Monday in Greenville.
https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Cassie-Cromwell-WEB-4.jpgGreenville’s Cassie Cromwell scans the floor during a girls basketball game against Fort Recovery on Monday in Greenville. Kyle Shaner|The Daily Advocate

By Kyle Shaner

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Kyle Shaner may be reached at 937-569-4316. Follow me on Twitter @KShanerAdvocate or get updates on Facebook by searching Darke County Sports or Advocate 360. For more features online go to dailyadvocate.com.

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