Indians back on track (01/14/08)

ANSONIA, Ohio - The Indians are back on track.

After opening 8-1 and earning a No. 7 ranking in Ohio's Division IV, the Fort Recovery High School boys basketball team dropped both games last weekend. The defeats, one to Division IV No. 2 New Knoxville and the other in overtime, followed the loss of point guard Toby Metzger to injury for the season.

But the Indians rebounded, topping the Ansonia Tigers 44-35 Saturday after knocking off Division III No. 2 St. Henry Friday night.

Ansonia (5-8) broke a halftime tie with the first bucket of the second half, but the Indians (10-3) followed with an 8-0 run to take the lead for good.

Frank Thien tied the game just 13 seconds after the Tigers pulled in front, and a Greg Kahlig lay-up at the 6:18 mark of the third put the Tribe on top. Kahlig added a pair of free throws, and a Tyler Jutte hoop pushed the advantage to 27-21.

Fort Recovery's advantage never got larger than the final margin of nine points, but the Tigers never pulled closer than five either. Ansonia shot just 31 percent for the game, including 8-of-29 (28 percent) in the second half.

Kahlig was the lone Indian in double figures as he finished with 13 points. He hit 7-of-8 free throws, added 11 rebounds for a double-double and came up with three steals.

Thien finished with eight points, seven assists and three steals. Clint Tobe and Brent Faller grabbed nine and eight rebounds respectively as Fort Recovery owned a 42-21 advantage on the glass.

Junior varsity

Fort Recovery erased a slight halftime deficit and grabbed a 42-37 victory over the Tigers.

The Indians trailed by two at the half, but improved their shooting by 10 percentage points after the intermission to earn the victory.

Josh Wendel hit 5-of-6 from the field and scored 11 points for the Tribe. Cody Fiely also had 11 points to go along with at team-best eight rebounds.

Kyle Post added nine points and four rebounds, Wendel had four boards and Matt Braun totaled four steals.[[In-content Ad]]