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Early on, things did not look good for the Oak Harbor girls basketball team.
The Rockets began the season 3-6 with several losses coming by sizable margins. They fell to conference foes Margaretta, Port Clinton and Clyde by 24, 19 and 51 points, respectively.
But they’ve responded, turning their season around with a 7-2 run that included victories over both Margaretta and Port Clinton.
Currently, the Rockets are 10-8 overall and 7-6 in the Sandusky Bay Conference, good for fourth place.
They’ve certainly come quite a ways from where they were early in the season, when they were just 1-5 in the SBC.
The team is led by 5-foot-10 center Kayla Diefenthaler, who is averaging 12 points and six rebounds. Diefenthaler, who has played on the varsity since she was a freshman, is one of the team’s leaders and has served as a steady presence in the post.
Joining her in the frontcourt is Allison Dunn, the team’s leading scorer, averaging 13 points and seven rebounds. The 5-9 junior has helped to form a formidable presence near the basket with Diefenthaler.
While Diefenthaler and Dunn have consistently performed well, Coach Brad Hemminger says the key to the team's turnaround can be attributed to the improved play of the guards.
The backcourt trio of Makayla Carpenter, Maria Boers and Amanda Hetrick has drastically improved, playing sound, fundamental basketball while learning to take better care of the ball. The result has been a significant reduction in turnovers, which has enabled the guards to operate the offense efficiently as well as limit fast break opportunities for opponents.
“We told the guards, ‘Just get our offense started, don’t turn the ball over and keep the ball moving,’” said Hemminger, in his first year at the helm.
Carpenter has improved running the point, cutting down on turnovers and creating a flow within the offense.
Boers, who is averaging nine points and scored 20 or more twice this season, is shooting better from the outside, helping to open things up in the post for Diefenthaler and Dunn and creating an inside-outside game within the offense.
In addition, it is Oak Harbor’s new-found commitment to defense that has helped them turn around their season.
Defensively, the Rockets have done a good job of limiting the opposition from getting scoring opportunities inside, often forcing them into taking jump shots.
“Our defense at the beginning of the year was not very good, to say the least,” said Hemminger. “We’ve defended pretty well lately.”
A rather inexperienced group, the Rockets start one senior, one junior, two sophomores, and a freshman. The Rockets play in the ultra-competitive SBC, which has only made things more difficult on Hemminger’s club.
The top team in the conference, Clyde, is currently 19-0 and ranked third in Division II. Perkins, last year’s conference champion, is 15-4, and Margaretta is 10-8, just a half-game ahead of the Rockets for third place.
Their non-conference schedule hasn’t been an easier. Oak Harbor lost to Genoa (18-1) as well as Tiffin Columbian (12-7), who they will face in the sectional tournament on Tuesday at Sandusky High School.
In their first game against Columbian, the Rockets fell behind early, trailing the Tornadoes 17-2 before making a run and getting back into the game, cutting the deficit to three points in the second half. It was not enough, however, as the Rockets fell, 56-44.
In that game, however, Dunn was injured and did not play and Boers struggled, going 0-for-11 from the floor.
Hemminger feels that, with Dunn back and Boers likely to play better next time, that his team is better prepared for the rematch.
What is to be admired about this group is that, when things weren’t going well, when they were losing games by sizable margins early in the season and struggling mightily, they persevered and kept at it, refusing to quit and continuing to work hard in practice.
And, now, they’re seeing the results.
"This has been a pretty incredible year for me," said Hemminger. "These kids have done everything I've asked them to do. They've come to practice every day and worked hard.”
For a coach who’s been in the business for some time, this team has certainly made an impression on him.
"I want to emphasize what a great job these kids have done and how hard they've worked," said Hemminger, who was the lead assistant for 13 years under former head coach Dick Heller. "It would've been easy for them to give up or not try as hard, coming off of our start. (But) they've been enthusiastic in practice, they like each other and they enjoy being in the gym. They've done a great job.”
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