Indians ready to take flight

The last time the Indians visited Trent Arena, they were playing in their biggest game of the last decade.
They hope Saturday’s trip will help lead them back to that level again this year.
Fort Recovery, ranked second in Division IV, will take on the Division I No. 10 Walnut Ridge Scots on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. as part of the Flyin’ to the Hoop invitational.
The Indians, a team with state championship dreams, are returning to the arena at Fairmount High School in Kettering two seasons after falling there in overtime in the regional title game to eventual state champion Jefferson Township. They want to be back at Trent in two months, once again playing for the right to advance to the state final four.
“I think it will be pretty neat,” said FRHS junior Wade Gelhaus, one of just two Tribe players remaining from the 2010 regional finals squad. “We’ll get to play a Division I team, and we haven’t played a Division I team so far in the regular season.
“I think it’ll be good for tournament time.
“It’s good for us to go back there, because that’s where we aim to go again.”
Flyin’ to the Hoop, a four-day event that begins Friday, is ranked as the No. 2 high school basketball showcase in the nation by CBS Sports/MaxPreps.
In addition to showing off seven state-ranked Ohio teams, it also includes squads from Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas and Nevada. It features seven of the top 10 high school players in the country as rated by ESPN.
Fort Recovery is only the second Division IV Ohio school to be invited to the event in its 10-year history, following Jefferson Township in 2009.
‘We’re obviously very excited to be invited,” said senior Jason Pottkotter. “We’re one of the few smaller schools that has been invited to play.”
So it should come as no surprise that Fort Recovery’s game at Flyin’ to the Hoop will rank as its most difficult regular-season challenge of the year.
The Scots are undefeated at 7-0, ranked 10th in Division I and favored to win the Columbus City League. Isaiah Brooks, a point guard being recruited by Bowling Green and Indiana State, leads the team.
And to add an extra hurdle, the Indians will take on Walnut Ridge just about 16 hours after playing a Midwest Athletic Conference road game at Coldwater.
“It’s obviously going to be tough,” said Tribe coach Brian Patch. “The toughest part is we’ve got to prepare for Friday night’s game first and worry about that one. Right now that’s the most important game for us to win a MAC championship …”
Fort Recovery earned a three-way share of the MAC title two seasons ago, but has not claimed it outright since 1999. That Indians squad went on to finish as the state runner-up.
The Tribe is off to a good start in its MAC quest this season, opening with eight straight wins including a triumph over Division III No. 6 Versailles. It was also 8-0 a year ago, but struggled in the second half of the season.
The Indians hope Saturday’s experience, win or lose, will help them to be flying at their highest in March.
“It gives us the chance to play against (the caliber of team) that we would have to play in a regional setting or ... to be able to win a state championship,” said Patch. “Any time you start off 8-0 that’s a nice accomplishment. But it’s not about where you’ve been so much as where you want to go. …
“Our goal is to win the MAC championship and win the state championship. From day one we’ve been talking about that. That’s not something we’ve been trying to hide.”[[In-content Ad]]