Finally at Fort Site (12/13/2008)

FORT RECOVERY - Thirteen seasons was a long time to wait.

But that length of time also makes the accomplishment all the more impressive.

Jacob Westlake turned in a career game Friday night, keying the Jay County High School boys basketball team's first victory ever at the Fort Site Fieldhouse. He racked 14 points as his Patriots held off a fourth-quarter charge by the host Indians, 49-44.

"I'd be lying if I didn't say it was a big deal," said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose team had lost its five previous trips to Fort Recovery in the serious that began in the 1996-97 season. "We wanted to win here. It's always difficult. They always have a good team. They're well coached. It's a good crowd.

"We wanted to find a way to win, and this group found a way, so I'm proud of them."

With Fort Recovery (1-1) focusing its defensive attention on JCHS leading scorers Adam Garringer and Billy Wellman, Westlake stepped to the forefront. The team's defensive stopper went 4-of-6 from the field and buried six free throws for his career-high scoring total.

He also grabbed six rebounds.

"It was a great job," said Teagle. "Since we've started practice, Jake has been one of my favorite guys because he just busts his butt every night. ... Jake Westlake brings it every night to practice.

"We told him one of his roles was going to be a defensive stopper for us. Not only did he play well on the defensive end, he got it done offensively tonight. It was a great game by a senior. That's what it takes to win games like this. Seniors have to step up. Jake Westlake really stepped up."

The Indians didn't give up their undefeated home record against Jay County easily, beginning to intentionally foul the Patriots with about three minutes to go. Fort Recovery pulled within four points on two occasions in the final minute, but JCHS hit enough free throws - including Westlake's six - to hold on for the victory.

"Putting up 24 points in the fourth quarter obviously is good on our part. The bad thing is it was just a little too late. We dug ourself a hole early on," said FRHS coach Brian Patch, whose team managed just six points in the second quarter and five in the third. "Every time we seemed to make plays they seemed to be able to bounce back and make a few more themselves."

The Patriots (3-0) failed to score in the game's first four minutes, but trailed only 4-0 before getting a put-back from Westlake. They took the lead when Adam Garringer nailed a falling 3-pointer from the right corner at the close of the opening period, and went on an 11-0 run as Fort Recovery experienced a scoring drought. The Indians went more than five minutes without scoring a point before Greg Kahlig scored with 3:51 to go in the opening half.

With Fort Recovery struggling from the field, the Patriots used their quickness to get to the basket and pushed out to a 25-15 lead at halftime. They extended the advantage to 34-20 when Eric Homan hit a lay-up as time expired in the third quarter.

After a slow start, Kyle Simmons bounced back to finish with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.

"We can't have Westlake and Simmons ... get 27 points," said Patch. "We (held) Garringer to 10, and (Billy) Wellman had four. Obviously we did a good job there, but we can't have those other guys go off. ...

"Our goal tonight was not to give Garringer and Wellman any looks and make the other guys beat us, and to their credit they had guys step up and make those plays and beat us tonight."

Eric Homan also made his share of plays, totaling six points and a team-high eight rebounds. Wellman grabbed five boards.

"He had a bunch of rebounds early for us that helped us out," said Teagle of Homan. "They attack the boards hard. ... Eric was huge.

"Trey Dunn came off the bench and gave us a solid defensive effort and did a good job handling the ball. ...

"We got a lot of contributions."

Greg Kahlig led all scorers with 20 points, but his struggles from the field typified the night for the Indians offensively. He needed 21 shots to get his game-high total and struggled from the outside.

Fort Recovery shot 15-of-55 (27 percent) overall, including a dismal 3-of-22 (14 percent) from 3-point range.

"I thought we had some guys that didn't take shots that should have," said Patch. "It was nothing to do with bad shots. We got shots we wanted, they just didn't go down."

Brady Kahlig turned in an impressive effort off the bench for the Indians, recording a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He helped kick-start the offense as 10 of his points came in the second half, including eight in the fourth quarter.

"I thought tonight Brady was probably our second-best player on the floor. ... He stepped up," said Patch. "He had a great week of practice ... and it paid off for him tonight."

Craig Tobe added nine points for the Indians, Toby Metzger grabbed six boards and Frank Thien added three assists.

Junior varsity

Jay County put on a shooting clinic, hitting 60 percent from the field for the game in a 40-25 victory over the Indians.

Josh Beaty and Garrett Krieg scored 12 and 11 points respectively to lead the Patriots, who hit 12-of-20 from the field and outscored the Tribe 15-4 at the free-throw line. Zach Cash had seven points and five rebounds, Brad Horn totaled six points, four rebounds and three steals and Krieg dished out four assists.

Shane Brunswick had 10 points four rebounds and a pair of steals for the Indians, who hit just 27 percent from the field. Michael Gaerke added six points, five rebounds and three assists.[[In-content Ad]]