FR ices Panthers (12/19/2008)

FORT RECOVERY - The Indians had no trouble scoring. When they found some defense to go along with it they ran the Parkway Panthers off the floor.

Leading by just three points three minutes into the second quarter, Fort Recovery High School's girls basketball team ripped off a 34-7 run as they blasted their Midwest Athletic Conference rival 75-47.

The run spanned 10 minutes and pushed the Indians' lead from 23-20 to 57-27. The Tribe allowed just three Parkway field goals as they opened the lead and racked up points on the offensive glass, finishing with 27 offensive rebounds and 26 second-chance points.

"We did a nice job on the boards," said FRHS coach Doug Bihn, whose team improved to 4-1. "We've been preaching about that all year. We're getting better. It's just something we've got to keep working at."

Work on the boards keyed big nights from Joanna Snyder and Chelsea Leuthold, who each finished with eight rebounds. Snyder racked up a game-high 20 points, and Leuthold followed with 15.

Kelsey Wuebker grabbed six rebounds as the Tribe finished with a 46-31 advantage on the boards overall. She and Snyder each had three assists.

Nicole Pottkotter joined Snyder and Leuthold in double figures with 11 points.

"We know what we've got in Joanna," said Bihn, also complimenting her 7-for-7 effort at the free-throw line. "She's a nice ballplayer."

"Chelsea Leuthold just lives for basketball. She's a player.

"Tonight she played pretty well."

Fort Recovery scored the game's first six points and ran out to a 12-4 lead, but the Panthers managed to stay in the game.

They opened the second period with a 7-2 run, including a Daniella Matthews 3-pointer and a hoop by Jen Thomas that brought the visitors within three.

But Fort Recovery dominated the next 10 minutes, starting their run with a Snyder hoop. Leuthold scored six consecutive Tribe points during the run, and Snyder finished it with a pair of free throws with 2:48 to play in the third quarter.

Parkway followed with three straight 3-pointers and never got closer than 16 points the rest of the way.

Ten different players scored for the Indians as every player on the roster, with the exception of the injured Anne Koesters, saw at least five minutes of action.

"We got a chance to play a lot of players," said Bihn. "Everybody got an opportunity to make an impact tonight."

Haley Burtch came of the bench to lead the Panthers in scoring with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Jamie Guggenbiller scored nine points before fouling out, and Tara Luth and Lindsay Shellabarger each added seven.

Luth shared the team highs of five rebounds with Thomas and three assists with Guggenbiller.

One of the few negatives for the Indians, who host Indiana's Class 4A No. 7 Jay County Saturday, was that the game had a tendency to turn sloppy. They matched their season average of 18 turnovers, a number Bihn hopes will drop as the season continues.

"We ended up with 20 turnovers, and that's way too many," said Bihn. "We were the team that was pressing most of the night, they weren't."

Junior varsity

Fort Recovery limited the Panthers to five points or fewer in three quarters Thursday on the way to a 52-29 victory.

After taking a 19-4 first-quarter lead, the Indians' advantage slipped to just four points at the half. However, they dominated the second half 28-9 as Parkway shot just 21 percent after the break.

Kelly Nietfeld paced the Indians (5-0) with 13 points, more than half of which came at the foul line, and five rebounds. Holly Brunswick scored 10 points, Kylie Kahlig had eight points and six rebounds and Alyssa Brackman dished out five assists.

Becca Harshman finished with nine points to lead the Panthers. Katie Art grabbed four rebounds.

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