Laney Schmidt provides Oak Harbor with key spark in double overtime victory over Genoa in NBC.
Laney Schmidt doesn't always contribute the way she'd like coming off Oak Harbor's bench.
Anybody would love to have the impact Schmidt had Saturday in a 69-64 victory over visiting Genoa in double overtime in the Northern Buckeye Conference. Karder Haas canned a 3-pointer for a 67-64 advantage late in the second overtime.
"All my shooters, they'll drain them," Rockets junior Haylee Robinson said. "I have full confidence they'll put it in the net."
Oak Harbor (13-4, 8-0) also topped Genoa (12-5, 6-2) 51-40 on the road earlier in the season. The Rockets have at least a two game lead over every team in the NBC, with four games remaining in the league.
"They're all a must win," Oak Harbor coach Dick Heller said. "Start taking anybody for granted and you'll get beat. We knew Genoa was important to maintain a two-game lead, rather than a tie. We can't have letdowns. Not being satisfied.
"The focus is on staying intense and establishing our style of basketball."
Oak Harbor and Genoa shared the conference crown last season as each lost once to the other. The Rockets beat the Comets twice two years ago on the way to an outright crown their first year in the NBC, before falling to Genoa in the postseason.
"They wanted it back after we beat them the first time," Robinson said. "We knew this would be difficult. It takes will power. The mentality throughout the game is to give all you've got."
Heller doesn't insist his girls make all their shots. He does demand they never take possessions off on defense.
"They know our weaknesses," he said. "We had to try to slow down Makenna (Moritz) and Addisyn (Moritz). It was a battle. We had to play defense. That's a great team. They have so many weapons. To beat them twice, it's super tough.
"They have to put up with me in their face at practice. In games. I'm intense and I have high expectations. They know we believe in them and have their backs. They believe in our system."
Schmidt dropped in a 3-pointer and finished a give and go with soft touch on a baseline bucket in the second quarter. She canned a 3-pointer for a 44-40 advantage shortly after Genoa established a lead in the third quarter.
"It's a role we'd like her to be consistent in, coming off the bench and hitting shots," Heller said. "She was in the gym before the game for extra work. We want her to be confident."
Reghan Markley, who scored a team-high 17 points, has responded to Heller's environment after returning to Oak Harbor from Toledo Christian. She scored a key bucket after she grabbed an offensive rebound in the first overtime and she scored 11 points in the first quarer, including three 3-pointers.
"We'll do anything to uplift the team," Robinson said.
Brooke Tabbert scored 15 points, including seven after the game was tied 57-57 after regulation, Haas added 15 points and Schmidt had 12. Each team scored five points in the first overtime.
"I'm proud to be on this team," said Robinson, who scored her only points on a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. "We give our all and we root for our teammates. I'm thankful for that. In tight games we push."
Makenna Moritz scored a game-high 28 points, including all of Genoa's points in overtime. Addisyn Moritz recoreded 17 points, including No. 1,000 in her career in the fourth quarter.
"We knew we had to control tempo," Heller said. "We're not used to giving up 64 points. That's a credit to Genoa's offense."
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This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Oak Harbor, Genoa match for key OHSAA girls basketball game in NBC
Category: General Sports
