Inside and out (01/08/07)

PITSBURG, Ohio - As if the Indians weren't already scary enough, they showed off a few more weapons Saturday.

Fort Recovery's girls basketball team found its outside touch with 11 3-pointers, and Annie Koesters gave the team a twin towers look inside in a 70-30 beating of the Franklin Monroe Jets.

The Tribe's third 40-point win this year, and sixth of 19 points or more, leads into a Midwest Athletic Conference showdown.

"This was a good win for us, to be 11-0 now getting ready to go in and play our biggest game of the year so far which is Knoxville at their place," said FRHS coach Jeff Roessner. "I'm glad we got this win and we can start focusing on what our next task at hand is."

Those Rangers (9-2, 3-1 MAC) finished 19-2 last season, with both losses coming against Fort Recovery.

The Indians are even scarier now after hitting 7-of-14 3-point attempts in the opening half against Franklin Monroe (7-3) and 11 for the game. The team had hit just 29 percent of its triples this year.

Six different Fort Recovery players scored from long range, including three 3-pointers from Holly Stein (13 points) and two apiece by fellow seniors Vicki Roessner (12), Sara Fortkamp (eight) and Abby Niekamp (eight).

"It was a good game for us to get our shooting touch back," said Roessner. "They were the first team we've played this year that's played that much zone defense. Given the opportunity, we've shown that we could shoot the basketball.

"I feel good about that. It's nice to see those shots go in. The kids got their feet set ... and by and large they took good looks at the basket."

While the seniors were firing away from the outside, Koesters gave the Jets fits underneath the basket.

Koesters made her first three field-goal attempts, and when she finally missed one late in the third quarter she grabbed one of her game-high nine rebounds and put it back it for another two points. She finished 6-of-10 from the field to match Roessner with 12 points.

The emergence of Koesters, a sophomore, with the near double-double, showed just how strong the Indians can be in the paint. She pairs with senior Tiff Gaerke (9.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game), who finished with nine points and five boards respectively against the Jets.

"Annie Koesters was outstanding today. The kid is really coming along," said Roessner. "Today was a day where she got in and really barreled around in there. And (Franklin Monroe) wasn't weak on the glass, she just went and got some things."

Stein followed Koesters with six rebounds, and Roessner had a game-high six assists.

With so much going right for the Tribe, the game was never in doubt. Fort Recovery scored the first 14 points, finishing the run on a 3-pointer by Niekamp, who broke out of a slump of back-to-back scoreless games. She also dished out four assists.

Fort Recovery made some mistakes in the second quarter and early in the third, but dominated the final 13 minutes after a timeout. It finished the game on a 33-5 run with another Niekamp 3-pointer in the final minute forging the 40-point margin.

"The second quarter we got a little bit sloppy," said Roessner, whose team finished with 19 turnovers. "We thought it was going to be easy. ... (We had to) get them refocused, and once we did that then we came back and played better."

Mara Howell managed 15 points to lead Franklin-Monroe, but they came on 5-of-21 shooting from the field. Sierra Bruner had five points and five rebounds, and no other Jet scored more than two points. Amy Spitler also grabbed five boards.

Junior varsity

Fort Recovery trailed by two after the opening quarter, but allowed only two points in the second as it rolled to a 40-19 victory over the Jets.

The Indians outscored Franklin-Monroe 14-2 in the second period to open a 10-point lead at the half. They limited the Jets to just 29 percent shooting for the game, including 23 percent in the second half.

Emily May had a big game for the Tribe, leading the way in rebounds (seven), steals (five) and assists (four). She also shot 4-of-6 from the field and was one of two Fort Recovery players in double figures with 10 points.

Kinsey Wenning finished with 14 points and five rebounds, and Chelsey Leuthold also had five boards.

Cera Carlin and Kelli Moore each had seven points and two assists for the Jets. Moore and Kelsy Anthony finished with six rebounds apiece.[[In-content Ad]]