Headed to finals

ELIDA, Ohio — Wade Gelhaus spent the first half in the background as his senior teammates controlled the game.
But when Indians needed him in the third quarter, the Midwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year rose to the occasion.
Gelhaus’ back-to-back hoops in the third quarter Tuesday erased Fort Recovery’s only deficit, and the fifth-ranked Tribe went on to a 51-46 victory over the St. John’s Blue Jays in their Division IV district semifinal game at Elida.
“You’re not going to have a St. John’s team ever go away and hide. That’s not their make-up,” said FRHS coach Brian Patch, whose team opened the game with a 9-0 run and was up by 13 early in the second quarter. “We had a lead on them and they fought back, which we knew they would. … When they did take the lead … it could have been panic in our kids’ eyes, but we were able to respond right back. That was nice to see.”
St. John’s (14-9) recovered from the early Indian onslaught, pulling to within six at halftime and then opening the second half on a 9-1 run. The Blue Jays pulled even on a Curtis Geise hoop at the 6:28 mark of the third quarter and took their first lead a minute-and-a-half later when Geise assisted on a Seth Bockey basket.
Their advantage, however, lasted just 14 seconds.
After Jared Kahlig missed for the first time in the game on the ensuing possession, Gelhaus hauled in the rebound and scored to pull Fort Recovery even. The junior, who averages 19.5 points per game, then banked in a shot from the left elbow with 4:05 left in the third quarter to give the Indians (20-2) the lead for good.
St. John’s closed to within two points twice in the fourth quarter, but an 8-0 run capped by a three-point play by Gelhaus ended its comeback hopes.
Gelhaus’ second-half surge combined with 21 points from Jared Kahlig and a big all-around effort by Jason Pottkotter to help the Tribe overcome junior Curtis Geise’s game-high 22 points.“Curt’s a pretty resilient kid,” said St. John’s coach Aaron Elwer of Geise, who scored 13 of his points during the third quarter. “In the last five games he’s been about as good as he’s been all year. … Tonight he tried to carry us for as long as he could, that’s for sure.”
Fort Recovery advances to play the St. Henry Redskins (19-4) in the district championship game at Elida on Friday at 7 p.m. St. Henry, which knocked off the Indians 42-41 during the regular season, won its district semifinal game 57-51 over Crestview.
The Tribe’s seniors led the way in the opening half Tuesday, with Pottkotter facilitating the offense and Kahlig handling the scoring load.
Pottkotter had a hand in all of the Indians’ 15 first-quarter points, assisting on each of the first six baskets and then scoring the final hoop himself with seven seconds left. Kahlig was on fire from the opening tip, making each of his first seven shots and tallying 14 of his points in the first half with a lot of the early scoring coming on fast-break baskets.
“When they did press us a little bit we did get some looks,” said Patch. “We wanted to get some transition buckets. … We’re best when we do that.”
The Indians’ early run-and-gun game gave them a 19-6 lead and forced Elwer to call his second timeout just 1:04 into the second quarter.
Jared Kahlig went on to finish 9-of-10 from the field for his team-high scoring total, and also grabbed six rebounds, and sophomore Elijah Kahlig chipped in with eight points.
Pottkotter totaled eight assists and seven rebounds.
“That’s why they’ve been so successful,” said Elwer. “It’s not just one guy out there. They’ve got three guys that potentially go off for 20 each night. … For 32 minutes we made things pretty darn difficult on (Gelhaus) because he hurt us the first time. Good teams have guys step up, and that’s what they did tonight.”
Gelhaus, who scored 27 points in the Indians’ 53-39 regular-season win over St. John’s, shot 7-of-11 from the field and scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half. He also grabbed six rebounds.
After Fort Recovery’s early dominance, the Blue Jays closed the gap to 23-17 when Tanner Calvalage scored the final four points of the first half. Geise scored the first six of the second half to continue the St. John’s comeback before Gelhaus took control for the Indians.
Ryan Buescher followed Geise with eight points for the Blue Jays.
Calvalage grabbed 10 rebounds.[[In-content Ad]]