Dec 31, 2024
Fort Frye’s Emmie Duskey, left, attacks the basket as Shenandoah’s Emily Moore defends during Monday’s game in Beverly. (Photo by Mike Morrison)
BEVERLY – Senior guard Emmie Duskey tossed in 15 points including the 1,000th point of her career Monday night to lead the Fort Frye Cadets to a 52-33 win over the Shenandoah Zeps at Fort Frye High School.
Duskey’s free throw in the third quarter put her over the 1,000 mark with still more than a dozen games left to add to that mark.
“It’s always been a goal that I’ve had since I was younger and to accomplish it means a lot to me,” said Duskey. “It was great to get it here because all of my family came out to support me so that worked out well.”
Both Duskey and her teammates got off to a bit of a slow start against a Zeps squad that they defeated 54-31 11 days ago in Sarahsville.
The Zeps scored the first six points of the game all coming from junior Brenna Leach with a pair of them coming on assists from sophomore Emily Moore.
Fort Frye senior Emmie Duskey celebrates after scoring her 1,000th career point in the Cadets’ win over Shenandoah Monday in Beverly. (Photo by Mike Morrison)
Shenandoah was able to get the ball inside to Leach who proved to be a tough match-up for the Cadets early on.
“Shenandoah did a great job and they have certainly improved since the first time we saw them over there,” said Fort Frye head coach Dan Liedtke. “She (Leach) is a strong girl but I thought our girls handled it well and did the best that they could.”
Fort Frye missed their first nine shot attempts of the game before sophomore Ava Huffman finally got them on the board with a triple.
Sophomore Haven Shilling followed suit with a three-point shot of her own to quickly tie the score back up at 6-6.
Later in the quarter Duskey scored her first points of the game on an old fashioned three-point play to give the Cadets a four-point lead.
Shenandoah managed to trim the lead the three at the end of the first quarter (13-10) and got even closer early in the second quarter on a triple by Kendal Snyder.
The Cadets out-pointed Shenandoah 7-2 the rest of the half to head to the break with a 22-16 lead.
Fort Frye hit just 3-of-17 shots in the opening half from behind the arc despite getting several wide open looks at the bucket.
“We really struggled with our shooting at the beginning and that was what kind of threw us off,” said Liedtke. “We were able to finally get going a little bit in the third quarter.”
After scoring just three points in the opening half, Duskey made her presence felt quickly in the second half as she opened it up with a two-pointer.
The Cadets began to find their mark from long distance as sophomore Aubrie Lang and Shilling canned back-to-back triples to quickly push the lead to 30-16.
Leach’s two-pointer briefly slowed the Cadets momentum but Duskey answered with back-to-back buckets, the first coming on a steal and finish at the other end.
Snyder knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game for the Zeps and Duskey was fouled on the Cadets next possession sending her to the charity stripe with a chance to make history.
Duskey calmly stepped to the line and made both free-throws the latter putting her to the 1,000 mark and bringing a loud ovation from the Cadets bench, student section and faithful.
“She didn’t start her freshman year but she played a really big role on our team that year and has been a special player ever since,” said Liedtke of Duskey. “What makes her special is all the other things she gives us on the court. She leads by example and every year she has got better and I think this year she has become that leader that we are going to need.”
Reaching 1,000 points was certainly a goal for Duskey but she would rather see her team go on to reach some of their goals as the season progresses.
“We are off to a 9-1 start and I just hope we can keep winning games,” said Duskey. “We are going to keep working and hope we can make a strong run in the tournament.”
Those free-throws gave the Cadets a 15-point lead and they would stretch it out to 19 at the end of the third quarter.
The Zeps managed to trim the lead to 14 but the Fort finished the game on a 7-2 run to win going away.
Duskey was the lone double-digit scorer for the Cadets but Huffman and Ella Dowler scored nine points apiece while Shilling and Lang finished with eight and seven points, respectively.
Shilling also pulled down a game-high 10 boards while dishing out four assists while Lang matched her point total with seven boards.
“Everyone on this team contributes every game and that’s what makes this such a special team,” said Liedtke. “Their chemistry and the way they work together is great and I’m really pleased with the way they are coming together this year.”
The win was the eighth in a row for the Cadets, who improved to 9-1 with the win.
Shenandoah was led by Leach with 15 points and nine rebounds while Snyder added eight points.
Moore scored five points, dished out six assists and also pulled down six rebounds for Shenandoah who slipped to 7-3 with the loss.
Fort Frye will take on New Lexington on Thursday while the Zeps get a bit of a break before returning to action next Monday at home against Barnesville.
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