Surprise. Oak Harbor in hunt for girls basketball crown first year in NBC

Sophomore Karder Haas rather enjoyed the pressure, but not the volume.

Things have changed a great deal for everyone within Oak Harbor's girls basketball program. The Rockets have already won two more games than they did all last season with eight victories already.

"We're excited for the next game, last year that wasn't always the case," Haas said. "We have big games coming up and we're in the running to win the league. That's a big goal."

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Oak Harbor (8-3, 5-2) split with Fostoria and lost to Eastwood in the Northern Buckeye Conference. The Rockets beat Genoa and are tied with the Comets one game back of the Eagles.

"Switching leagues, football came in and won the NBC, along with soccer," Haas said. "Girls basketball, the difference between last year and this year is a world of difference, we're going in and winning these games.

"Having a chance to win the NBC is a great surprise."

Haas led the team at 10 points per game as a freshman.

"We play so much better as a team," she said. "I relied on my 3 ball. I might have come off as selfish. My shooting percentage was not great. I had to figure out how to score. I had 52 made 3s. I'm not even close (to that pace), but I'm a better player.

"I've grown so much. I'm taking half the shots and scoring the same amount of points. Coach (Dick) Heller helped me explore new things I can do and I'm scoring in a variety of ways. Same with everyone on the team.

"Coach helped Effie [Schulte] handle the ball. We all learned different ways and we're learning to come together."

Haas worked to create and identify lanes for scoring and passing. She's learning to draw fouls and kick the ball off dribble penetration.

She enjoyed the challenge of shouldering the primary scoring load last season. While similar, she likes her role better now.

"I played AAU until I was a freshman," she said. "Coming in, I took it one game at a time. I didn't stress about it, it's supposed to be fun. The wins didn't fall, we weren't playing together. I like to move the ball more, look for points for other girls.

"Get the offense moving. I didn't have a backup plan for the 3. This year, I do."

Heller unretired to return to the helm at Oak Harbor for a second time.

"Coach Heller, he's known for being a fired up coach," Haas said. "He gets us excited for games. He has high standards, we want to make our coach happy. He cares as much, if not more than us. Practices are tough, but he wants he best for us.

"Pushing us to our abilities and working with individual players on their skills. It's upbeat and intense, so then it's more fun. The confidence level every player has now. He pushes us harder and harder, the game flows easier.

"It creates pressure to come off our shoulders in games. Because we practice that hard, games go smoother."

Juniors Schulte and Camdyn Fauver join Haas as returning starters. Senior Megan Rife has starting experience and Rife, senior Nora Schmidt and junior Elise Mollison rotate in the other two starting spots.

"Our turnovers have decreased," Haas said. "We learn to break down the press one spot at a time to get steals. We lost tight games last year, no one likes losing that many. Don't underestimate the Rockets. We're completely changed as a team and teams should be a little nervous to play Oak Harbor."

Junior Sami Tack has varsity experience and Brooke Tabbert is a freshman. Senior Hollie Robinson returns to the program and classmate Porter Gregory is in the group.

"Last year, we played individual basketball and did our own thing," Haas said. "This year, each player has a role. It's easy to play together. At practice, we work harder. Everybody loves winning, it's more fun."

Haas didn't expect Oak Harbor to win more games than last season midway through this season. She didn't anticipate contending for the NBC championship after not winning a game in the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division last year.

"We're a lot better and we surprised a lot of people," she said. "I know it's more fun to watch for our fans. The fact we're winning drives us. Loss after loss, you're getting bored."

mhorn@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Oak Harbor OHSAA girls basketball