No. 3 Rangers control Fort in 2nd half (01/14/07)

FORT RECOVERY - The wheels came off in the second half for the Fort Recovery Indians as the undefeated New Knoxville Rangers - ranked No. 3 in Division IV in Ohio - rolled to a 53-38 victory, its 10th of the season Friday.

Though the Indians matched the visitors point for point through the first half, shooting 50 percent from the field to New Knoxville's 46 percent, the second half was a nightmare.

Fort Recovery, which was 11th in the Division IV voting this week, shot an abysmal 25 percent in the last two quarters, hitting only one 3-pointer out of eight attempts and uncharacteristically hitting only 4-of-10 from the free-throw line.

Clint Tobe led the Indians again Friday, scoring 10 points and hitting 4-of-6 from the field. Toby Metzger scored nine for Fort Recovery, with both Greg Kahlig and Bobby Rammel adding eight.

New Knoxville's power came from Tony Meyer and Josh Niemeyer, who each scored 14, and Austin Arnett with 10.

The two teams see-sawed through the first quarter, with New Knoxville on top 14-13 when it ended. The Indians held tough and stayed competitive in the second, going into the locker room at halftime trailing 26-23.

But then things went horribly wrong. Indian shots that had been finding the basket suddenly couldn't go through. Fort Recovery missed 11 shots in the third quarter and managed only 4 points.

At the end of three, it was New Knoxville convincingly on top 37-27.

By then, the game was out of reach. The Indians tried to bounce back in the fourth but were outscored 16-11.

In the junior varsity contest, New Knoxville picked up the win 48-31. The Rangers were led by Austin Luck with 17 points while Wes Kahlig scored a team-high seven for Fort Recovery.[[In-content Ad]]