July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Seniors cap careers at Fort Site (02/16/07)
FRHS girls basketball
Seniors cap careers at Fort Site (02/16/07)
By By RAY COONEY-
FORT RECOVERY - Thursday night provided a chance for the Fort Recovery fans to say good-bye to one of the great girls basketball classes in school history. Although, those Indians hope to give the hometown faithful a lot more to cheer about.
The Division IV No. 6 Tribe's seven seniors clobbered the Parkway Panthers 85-46 in their final home game, capping their outstanding Midwest Athletic Conference careers.
Coach Jeff Roessner spent the final four minutes of the game substituting one-by-one to take his five healthy seniors out of the game.
First came Joanna Snyder for Abby Niekamp, who had a career game with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Then Kinsey Wenning for her sister Lauren, followed by Annie Koesters for Tiff Gaerke.
Finally, with 1:32 to go, he sent Lauren Day and Rachel Tobe to get guards Vicki Roessner, his daughter, and Sara Fortkamp.
"I've been around these girls for four years, and actually four years before that. I know them all personally and for me it's bitter sweet," said Roessner of the class, which also includes the injured Holly Stein and Sam Staugler. "I'm glad to see them get this far and I'm glad to see the accomplishments they've made and I hate like heck to think that I'm going to play my next home game here at Fort Recovery without them."
The big win over Parkway - the Indians opened with a 9-0 run, led by 13 after the first quarter and went up by 24 at halftime - finished off the MAC season for the Tribe at 7-2. The only losses came by two points to Division III No. 4 St. John's (19-1, 8-1 MAC), which suffered its first loss 39-35 Thursday to Minster, and New Knoxville (15-4, 6-2 MAC), which was 11th in the Division IV voting this week.
Over the course of their four seasons, the Fort Recovery seniors - Roessner, Stein and Gaerke have been four-year starters, and Fortkamp a three-year starter - compiled a 26-10 record in the MAC. That includes 7-2 records and third-place efforts during their freshman and sophomore years before finishing as conference runners-up to St. John's this season.
They are 64-22 overall, including 16-3 this season.
"Our MAC conference is pretty difficult ... when our kids played as freshmen, we won 15 games," said Roessner. "Our competition is unbelievable, and these kids have been carrying the load for the last four years. While we didn't get what we wanted in the MAC (a conference title) ... I'm pleased with the effort and the tenacity with which we played."
Fort Recovery dominated the action against Parkway, getting four players in double figures and three more with at least eight points.
Gaerke followed Niekamp with 15 points, Roessner added 13 and Koesters scored 10. Snyder just missed double figures with nine points, and Fortkamp and Lauren Wenning each scored eight.
The Tribe dominated the glass as well with 53 rebounds - 24 on the offensive end - compared to just 20 for the Panthers. Gaerke again trailed Niekamp with eight boards, Koesters had seven, Fortkamp grabbed six and Snyder finished with five.
Fortkamp also had five assists, and Roessner added four.
Roessner said he's seen everyone pick up some of the slack for Stein, who was the team's leading scorer (13.5) and rebounder (6.8) before missing the last two games with a foot injury. She plans to return to the team for tournament play.
"Holly's a great player, and you just don't replace your leading scorer and leading rebounder and probably your toughest kid on the floor," Roessner said. "Each player has just had to do a little bit more, and for the most part I think we've done that."
Marian Bevington hit 5-of-7 3-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points to lead Parkway, which dropped to 1-17 overall and 0-9 in the MAC. Hannah Beougher added 11 points.
After the game, there was a brief ceremony honoring the senior class.
Roessner had a few comments about his team, but told the fans in attendance his players were not going to speak. He said they planned to hold their thoughts until after what they hope will be a tournament run to the state finals in Columbus.
"I think there is still a long way for us to step up," said Roessner. "We've got to get a lot, lot better at some of the things that we do. ... Our defense was so good early and I think it's lost some of its tenacity. And that's the part we're working on the most.
"It's been a great bunch. I'm proud of every one of them. I just want to do the best I can to put them in the best position ... down the tournament road."
Junior varsity
Fort Recovery racked up 17 points in each of the first two quarters en route to a 48-15 win over the Panthers.
The Tribe rolled out to a 34-6 lead at the half, shooting 58 percent before the intermission. Parkway, which scored no more than five points in any quarter, hit for just 4-of-31 (13 percent) in the game.
Chelsey Leuthold and Nicole Pottkotter shared the team-high of 13 points for the Indians. Pottkotter grabbed seven rebounds, and Leuthold had four assists and four steals.
Lauren Day shot 4-of-5 from the field and totaled 10 points, and Rachel Tobe had five assists and five steals.[[In-content Ad]]
The Division IV No. 6 Tribe's seven seniors clobbered the Parkway Panthers 85-46 in their final home game, capping their outstanding Midwest Athletic Conference careers.
Coach Jeff Roessner spent the final four minutes of the game substituting one-by-one to take his five healthy seniors out of the game.
First came Joanna Snyder for Abby Niekamp, who had a career game with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Then Kinsey Wenning for her sister Lauren, followed by Annie Koesters for Tiff Gaerke.
Finally, with 1:32 to go, he sent Lauren Day and Rachel Tobe to get guards Vicki Roessner, his daughter, and Sara Fortkamp.
"I've been around these girls for four years, and actually four years before that. I know them all personally and for me it's bitter sweet," said Roessner of the class, which also includes the injured Holly Stein and Sam Staugler. "I'm glad to see them get this far and I'm glad to see the accomplishments they've made and I hate like heck to think that I'm going to play my next home game here at Fort Recovery without them."
The big win over Parkway - the Indians opened with a 9-0 run, led by 13 after the first quarter and went up by 24 at halftime - finished off the MAC season for the Tribe at 7-2. The only losses came by two points to Division III No. 4 St. John's (19-1, 8-1 MAC), which suffered its first loss 39-35 Thursday to Minster, and New Knoxville (15-4, 6-2 MAC), which was 11th in the Division IV voting this week.
Over the course of their four seasons, the Fort Recovery seniors - Roessner, Stein and Gaerke have been four-year starters, and Fortkamp a three-year starter - compiled a 26-10 record in the MAC. That includes 7-2 records and third-place efforts during their freshman and sophomore years before finishing as conference runners-up to St. John's this season.
They are 64-22 overall, including 16-3 this season.
"Our MAC conference is pretty difficult ... when our kids played as freshmen, we won 15 games," said Roessner. "Our competition is unbelievable, and these kids have been carrying the load for the last four years. While we didn't get what we wanted in the MAC (a conference title) ... I'm pleased with the effort and the tenacity with which we played."
Fort Recovery dominated the action against Parkway, getting four players in double figures and three more with at least eight points.
Gaerke followed Niekamp with 15 points, Roessner added 13 and Koesters scored 10. Snyder just missed double figures with nine points, and Fortkamp and Lauren Wenning each scored eight.
The Tribe dominated the glass as well with 53 rebounds - 24 on the offensive end - compared to just 20 for the Panthers. Gaerke again trailed Niekamp with eight boards, Koesters had seven, Fortkamp grabbed six and Snyder finished with five.
Fortkamp also had five assists, and Roessner added four.
Roessner said he's seen everyone pick up some of the slack for Stein, who was the team's leading scorer (13.5) and rebounder (6.8) before missing the last two games with a foot injury. She plans to return to the team for tournament play.
"Holly's a great player, and you just don't replace your leading scorer and leading rebounder and probably your toughest kid on the floor," Roessner said. "Each player has just had to do a little bit more, and for the most part I think we've done that."
Marian Bevington hit 5-of-7 3-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points to lead Parkway, which dropped to 1-17 overall and 0-9 in the MAC. Hannah Beougher added 11 points.
After the game, there was a brief ceremony honoring the senior class.
Roessner had a few comments about his team, but told the fans in attendance his players were not going to speak. He said they planned to hold their thoughts until after what they hope will be a tournament run to the state finals in Columbus.
"I think there is still a long way for us to step up," said Roessner. "We've got to get a lot, lot better at some of the things that we do. ... Our defense was so good early and I think it's lost some of its tenacity. And that's the part we're working on the most.
"It's been a great bunch. I'm proud of every one of them. I just want to do the best I can to put them in the best position ... down the tournament road."
Junior varsity
Fort Recovery racked up 17 points in each of the first two quarters en route to a 48-15 win over the Panthers.
The Tribe rolled out to a 34-6 lead at the half, shooting 58 percent before the intermission. Parkway, which scored no more than five points in any quarter, hit for just 4-of-31 (13 percent) in the game.
Chelsey Leuthold and Nicole Pottkotter shared the team-high of 13 points for the Indians. Pottkotter grabbed seven rebounds, and Leuthold had four assists and four steals.
Lauren Day shot 4-of-5 from the field and totaled 10 points, and Rachel Tobe had five assists and five steals.[[In-content Ad]]
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