Photo by Jay W. Bennett Fort Frye’s Lexi Huck blocks the shot of Ridgewood’s Kelley Masloski as teammates Hannah Archer (22) and Mackenzie Dalton (24) converge during the Cadetsá 60-21 sectional victory Saturday afternoon.

BEVERLY — No. 16 seed Ridgewood limited host Fort Frye to less than 35% shooting Saturday afternoon in an Ohio Division III sectional opener, but the second-seeded Cadets turned up the defense after halftime en route to a 60-21 victory.

The Panthers (3-16) of head coach Scott Bardall trailed 13-7 after one and 31-16 at intermission, but amassed just five points in the second half — going 1 of 8 from the field with 16 turnovers.

“That coaching staff I know very well,” admitted Cadet head man Dan Liedtke, whose squad improved to 19-1 and plays host at 7 p.m. Thursday to No. 15 seed Buckeye Trail. “I know they are teaching very good things and fundamentals.

“That’s a very young team. These guys aren’t going to come here just to get the game over with and come home. They are going to give a battle and I really thought they did in that first half. They definitely did. They stayed with it.”

Hannah Archer, who tied Karlee Ross for game-high scoring honors with 17, opened the affair with a trifecta 62 seconds. She followed with a lay-in less than a minute later and the Generals trailed 7-0 at the 5:23 mark after a pair of Ross free throws.

A putback by Kelley Masloski, who had five points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal, got the visitors on the scoreboard 3:03 in.

RHS cut it to 10-5 following a Kaiedence Smith 3 and after Kelsie Stephens scored inside it was 10-7 with 3:55 left in the quarter. However, the only other bucket of the stanza was a 3 by Mackenzie Dalton for part of her 15 counters.

Stephens, who had a team-high seven markers, opened the second with a three-point play to get it back to one possession, but the Cadets went on a 13-0 run to take control.

Ross started the spurt with a 3 and Archer ended it with a trifecta for a 26-10 bulge midway through the quarter.

Back-to-back deuces by Masloski and Kaelyn Robinson cut it to a dozen, but the Cadets pushed ahead 31-14 when Dalton, who added five steals, drained a 3 via a Julia Zalmanek assist. That offensive possession was started by Lexi Huck’s fifth steal of the quarter. She finished with a game-high six thefts and added 11 points.

“That’s where our defense has to be strong,” added Liedtke.

“That’s what you got to have consistent because these games are going to happen like this. When they happen your defense has got to be solid and it’s got to take care of it to keep you in the game. It’s got to make things happen. A lot of times you want to score off your defense and I felt we got some of that today.”

Fort Frye, which for the ninth time held its opponent to 21 points or less, pushed ahead by 20 early in the third.

Huck’s block led to a Dalton lay-in and then Huck hit a 3.

The only field goal of the third for the Panthers came with 27 seconds left when Tarryn Morris swished in a 13-foot baseline jumper, which made it 44-19 entering the fourth.

Kya Masloski’s two foul shots were the Panthers’ lone points of the stanza. It was 48-21 at that point, but Ross followed a triple for a 30-point advantage.

“I really don’t know too much about them. We haven’t looked that far ahead,” replied Liedtke when asked about the upcoming Buckeye Trail clash.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com