FR joins the elite

KETTERING, Ohio - This time, the Indians were on the receiving end of a furious fourth-quarter rally. They watched a nine-point lead disappear in the final five minutes, leaving their season hanging in the balance in overtime.

But Division IV No. 8 Fort Recovery stood strong in the extra session as Greg Kahlig scored the first hoop and the Indians never trailed again in a 61-57 regional semifinal victory over the Lockland Panthers at Fairmont's Trent Arena.

"It feels real good," said senior Cody Fiely, who finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. "Any way we can get a win, we'll take a win. We didn't play our game in the first half. ... But in the second half we got going."

Just 11 days earlier it was the Tribe that trailed by 14 to New Knoxville in the fourth quarter before storming back for an overtime win. Now, after surviving Lockland's comeback for a second overtime win in the tournament, it'll play for a regional championship.

The victory sends Fort Recovery (21-3) to Friday's regional title game against No. 7 Jefferson Township (14-10) at Trent Arena at 7:30 p.m. Jefferson Township defeated Fort Loramie 50-45 in Tuesday's second regional semifinal game.

"It's awesome," said Kahlig, who tallied game highs of 24 points and 14 rebounds. "Regional finals is something we've never been to, obviously. It's special to be in the last eight. Hopefully we can be in the last four."

The Indians advanced thanks to resilient play, both after a frustrating first half and the late Lockland rally.

After the Panthers (15-10) pulled even on a step-back 3-pointer by Terrance Calhoun with 31 seconds left, Fiely converted a pair of free throws to put Fort Recovery up 53-51.

Kahlig blocked Tommie Hayes' shot with about 10 seconds left, but Lockland leading scorer Frankie Young came up with the rebound and was fouled on his put-back try. He converted both free throws with 6.7 seconds left, and the Tribe couldn't get a good look at the hoop in the closing moments as the game went to overtime.

"We've come from behind (before) in the tournament," said freshman Wade Gelhaus.

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"So I don't think any of us were worried. ... We were calm. We were ready to play."

Fort Recovery took control in overtime as Kahlig got to the basket at the 3:12 mark, and after Calhoun split a pair of free throws a minute later Michael Gaerke hit his only basket of the game off a Gelhaus assist to make it 57-54.

Gelhaus pushed the lead to five points off a pair of pretty passes from Kahlig and Fiely. Calhoun got his Panthers back within two with another triple, but they failed to score again and Craig Tobe hit the last bucket of the game for the final margin.

"I think the team that scores first in overtime usually wins," said Lockland coach Paul Andrews. "That's been true for us. We'd been in three overtime games this year and won them all. ... (When you score first) the other team is fighting uphill."

In the opening half, Fort Recovery shot just 22 percent and trailed by as many as seven points. But it hit four free throws to close out the half and pull within two points, and then found its stride after the break.

The Panthers pushed ahead by four, but an 8-0 run gave the Tribe a 30-26 lead late in the third quarter. The advantage extended to 43-34 on a Gelhaus hoop off a no-look pass from Fiely with five minutes to go before Lockland rallied to force the extra session.

"We didn't think we played very well in the first half, probably our worst basketball of the year so far," said FRHS coach Brian Patch. "We didn't play well, but we fought and were able to get back within two at halftime. We were able to be resilient.

"We knew they were good. We knew they were going to make plays as well. ... That's where we've just got to step up and play to win it. ... We need that killer instinct."

Kahlig scored most of his 24 points, 18 of which came in the second half, by attacking the basket against Lockland's pressure defense. All of his field goals were from 2-point range, and he added an 8-of-11 effort at the foul line.

Fiely and Tobe each chipped in 12 points, and Gelhaus added 11 as the Indians won despite making just a single 3-pointer.

"Everybody attacked it on their team," said Andrews. "We weren't expecting that, to tell you the truth. We were more concerned with their outside shooting than their penetration with the basketball. But they were well prepared and executed what they were doing well."

Fort Recovery also dominated the glass, 45-33, with Gelhaus and Tobe following Kahlig and Fiely with seven boards apiece.

Calhoun was key to the Lockland comeback as he scored eight points in the final 3:32 of regulation and added all four for the Panthers in overtime. He finished with 13.

But Young struggled despite scoring 22 points. He shot just 7-of-27 from the field, including 3-of-15 from 3-point range.

"Frankie forced some shots early and he really was trying to put too much on his shoulders," said Andrews. "That really hurt us. We depended on him all year and he thought he had to do it, but I thought he was trying to do too much, too early."[[In-content Ad]]