Record in reach

FORT RECOVERY - A day before Valentine's Day in 2009, Greg Kahlig hit a milestone in the game he loves. Becoming the first player in Fort Recovery High School boys basketball history to reach the 1,000-point mark, he presented the game ball to his parents when play was stopped to honor his achievement.

He hopes to give mom and dad another orange memento Friday night.

Kahlig stands just 29 points away from becoming the Indians' all-time leading scorer and taking down Ken Heiby's record of 1,418 points that has stood for four decades. He will try to take down the mark Friday when he and the rest of the Tribe host the Minster Wildcats.

"It would be pretty cool to give the ball to my parents again," the senior said prior to practice Wednesday.

Twenty-nine points in a single game is a tall order, but there is no question that the number is within reach for Kahlig.

He has already scored 30 or more points four times this season, including a season-best 42 points in a win over Waynesfield-Goshen. He is one of just three players in FRHS history to have multiple games of 38 or more points, joining Heiby and 1967 graduate Tom Bryan.

Kahlig averages 26.7 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the field, and has been held under 20 points just three times in 11 games. The No. 2 scorer in the Midwest Athletic Conference is St. Henry's Vic Fortkamp at 18.5.

But the 6-foot-5-inch inside-out player is much more than just a scorer. He also leads the area in rebounds, 13.4 per game, and assists, 5.6 per game. He has also accepted the challenge for guarding the opposing team's best player night in and night out.

"A lot of teams ... their best players get to take a break on defense," said Tribe coach Brian Patch. "For us, we challenged him and told him, 'If you want to be good then you've got to guard people and score.' He's exerting a lot of energy that other good players don't have to do.

"Every year you come back as the leading scorer, you get the No. 1 defender on you. ... We've faced every defense known to man, every defensive plan is to stop him, and he still gets his 27 points a game."

In the 1968-69 season Heiby, who died Feb. 15, 2009, averaged 24.4 points per game and shot 49 percent from the field when he set his record.

He broke the previous mark of 1,166 set by Tom Bryan just two years earlier.

His record stood for 40 years, so long that Jay County High School did not even exist when it was set. That fact is illustrated by Heiby's team's two wins over Bryant and one over Pennville.

One of Heiby's teammates was Ed Snyder, who later became principal of FRHS and retired from that post the summer before Kahlig's freshman year. In fact, when Kahlig was voted Midwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year last year, Snyder's daughter, Joanna, earned the same honor for the girls team.

"Any time you can break any kind of record (or reach a milestone), it's a special thing to do," said Patch. "Any time you can accomplish a feat like that, that's been around such a long time, that would be a special honor for him.

"It's pretty easy to coach a kid like that. He makes us look pretty good. ... He just makes things happen for us as a team. ... Just having a kid like that is special."

Making his run at the record even more special is the fact that Kahlig is doing it on a team that has rolled out to a 10-1 record. The Indians' only loss came to Division III No. 5 Coldwater, and they avenged that defeat Friday by scoring a 56-51 overtime win over the host Cavaliers in front of their first sell-out crowd since 1993.

That victory helped the Tribe jump into the state's top 10 as it was voted ninth by The Associated Press in Division IV. FRHS is also 3-0 and tied for the MAC lead with St. John's as it seeks its first league title since 1999.

"This year has been awesome for us," said Kahlig. "We're undefeated in the MAC, and we've won some games that no one really expected us to win. Everyone's done a really good job. To be on a good team my senior year is really special."

Kahlig has to hope that his team can continue its strong effort and enjoy the same kind of success Heiby's squad did 40 years ago.

The 1968-69 team went 19-1 in the regular-season and avenged their lone loss with an 80-77 victory over St. Henry in the district championship game. The Tribe went on to defeat Mansfield St. Peter and Upper Scioto Valley to reach the state's final four.

Fort Recovery's season ended in the state semifinals with a 68-59 loss to Bridgeport and a 26-2 record. The school has won 20 games in a season just twice since then - the 1971 state championship season and the 1999 state runner-up campaign.

If the Indians are to make another deep tournament run, it'll be not only because of his prowess on the court but his attitude as well.

"My approach is for us just to win," he said of Friday's record-setting opportunity. "If I have a good game and get the record, that would just be icing on the cake."[[In-content Ad]]