Indians clobber Kalida (11/27/04)

FORT RECOVERY — That’s the way to start a basketball season.

As visiting Kalida struggled to find the right gear — playing at times as if the tryptophan from Thursday’s turkey still had them a little groggy — the Indians were running on all cylinders.

Fort Recovery out-shot, out-rebounded, and out-hustled Kalida from the opening buzzer and never let its out-matched opponent back into the game.

The final tally: Fort Recovery 62, Kalida 47.

Junior Travis VanSkyock, who averaged a little over 5 points a game last season, led the Indians with 24 points for the night, hitting 9 of 15 field goal attempts and 3 of 8 from long distance. He also chalked up 10 rebounds for the Indians.

Senior point guard Greg Faller and Tyler Wuebker each had 13 points for Fort Recovery. Wuebker had 6 rebounds and Faller 5.

Overall, the Indians shot 44.9 percent from the field. They hit 42.9 percent in the first half and were even hotter in the second, shooting 47.6 percent.

Meanwhile, a scrappy defense kept Kalida struggling, hitting just 26 percent of its shots from the field.

The Indians jumped out in front early and led 15-6 at the end of the first quarter. Kalida woke up in the second quarter — matching the Indians with 17 apiece — but trailed 32-23 at the half.

Fort Recovery came out strong in the third quarter, outscoring Kalida 16-13, and followed suit in the fourth, outscoring the visitors 14-11.

Neil Verhoff provided most of Kalida’s offense with 17 points. But he hit only 5 of 15 from the field, though he was a perfect 6 for 6 at the free throw line.

Other Indians scoring Friday included Dusty Tobe with 7, Stan Roessner and Clint Tobe with 2 each, and Ryan Staugler with 1.

In the JV contest, the final was Fort Recovery 42, Kalida 30. Tony Diller led the Indians with 15 points.

Fort Recovery hosts Mississinawa Valley tonight at 6:30 p.m. in Fort Site Fieldhouse.[[In-content Ad]]