Trace tops struggling Indians (02/02/04)

HAVILAND, Ohio — Fort Recovery hit a patch of ice a month and half ago and the brakes have still not kicked in. The Indian boys basketball team has skidded to nine consecutive defeats.

The Wayne Trace Raiders (6-7) handed the Tribe its latest set-back, a 68-57 road loss Saturday.

The Indians (3-11) were hurt by 18 turnovers, twice as many as the home team.

“That’s something that’s been our Achilles’ heel all year,” said Fort Recovery coach Brian Patch. “We’ve averaged 16 turnovers. We just have to do a better job of taking care of the ball.”

The Indians had a chance to put a scare into Wayne Trace when it wasn’t diligent with the ball in the closing seconds of the third quarter.

Junior Greg Faller came up with a steal and looked set for a sure lay-up on the other end of the floor. But, his shot rolled out of the cylinder as the point guard turned his ankle on the play.

“Obviously that would’ve been a big play to end a quarter with us going on a run,” said Patch. “We missed an opportunity to get momentum on our side.”

Had the lay-up gone in it would have completed a 7-0 run for the Indians to close the quarter and pull them within six points. As it was, they trailed 52-44 heading into the final eight minutes and Raiders’ star Nathan Overmyer finished them off.

Overmyer buried one of his four 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter. Nathan Davis put Wayne Trace up 56-44 with a free throw as the Tribe went scoreless for the first 2:45 of the final period.

Overmyer went on to score nine of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter as his squad made enough free throws to keep Fort Recovery at bay.

He made his first 10 free throw attempts, and finished 12-of-14 from the line and 4-of-8 from 3-point land. He also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and dished out two assists.

“Let’s face it, he’ the best around,” said Wayne Trace coach Al Welch of his senior leader. “He’s gonna make free throws, and he’s gonna make big baskets. He just makes our other kids look good.”

“I think Dusty Tobe did a pretty good job of making him earn his shots,” said Patch. “He got a lot in the end on foul shots.

“(Overmyer) did a good job scoring as well. He’s a heckuva player.”

Junior Blake Sinn and freshman Jay Priest supported Overmyer’s scoring with 12 points apiece.

The Raiders scored 25 points from the foul line, including 11 in the fourth quarter as Fort Recovery tried to recover.

The Indians matched Wayne Trace nearly basket for basket in an extremely offensive-minded first quarter, but they couldn’t keep up for the rest of the half.

They trailed just 23-20 after one period, and were within five points with four minutes to play in the half before everything fell apart.

The Raiders, who have won four straight games, finished the half on a 11-3 run to open a 41-30 advantage. The lead continued to hover around 10 points, and Fort Recovery never pulled closer than eight.

Dusty Tobe paced the Indians with 16 points. He also had a team-high six rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Faller finished with 13 points three rebounds and two assists, and John Bihn had nine points, five boards and two assists.

The Tribe will try to end its struggles as it returns to the Midwest Athletic Conference to play Parkway at home Friday at 6:30 p.m.

Fort Recovery (3-11) has played several close MAC games over the past six weeks. Three of its league losses came by five points or fewer, including a 55-51 overtime loss to St. Henry.

But, the Indians have struggled to stay close in their non-conference battles. Their non-MAC defeats during the losing streak have come by an average of 14.6 points.[[In-content Ad]]