FR to tip off season Friday

The Indians don’t open their season until the final day of the month. But fans will have a chance to see them in action Friday.
Fort Recovery High School’s boys basketball team will tip off its 2012-13 campaign at 7 p.m. Friday with a “Midnight Madness” event.
Such events have served as season-opening celebrations for collegiate programs since the 1970s, but this will be the first at FRHS.
“I think there’s some excitement about our team,” said FRHS coach Brian Patch, who returns two of his top three scorers from last season’s 20-3 squad. “I think that’s a nice way to start the year off. (Fans) will have a chance to come out and watch our team practice a little bit.”
Indian practices are normally closed to the public.
“Midnight Madness” will open at Fort Site Fieldhouse with an alumni scrimmage at 7 p.m. The game will include three players — Cody Fiely, Craig Tobe and Michael Gaerke — who were on the 2010 team that advanced to the regional championship game.
The freshman and junior varsity teams will practice from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. And the event will close with the varsity practice from 8:30 to 10 p.m. There will be a scrimmage at the end of both practice sessions.
There is no admission charge for the event, but the team will be accepting donations for the Shane Long Memorial Scholarship. Long, who died in 2010 at age 19, was a manager for the FRHS baseball team and a fan of Indian athletics in general. He was also active in Special Olympics.
“It’s for a good cause, for a scholarship in honor of Shane,” said Patch. “The thing that he brought to Fort Recovery was his excitement and passion for the school and the community.”[[In-content Ad]]