Tribe close again in loss to Tigers (12/15/03)

JACKSON CENTER, Ohio — Fort Recovery is on the verge of doing some big things on the court. Just ask the Jackson Center Tigers if they’d want any part of playing the Tribe again.

For the second straight game the Indians went nose to nose with a highly touted team into the fourth quarter, but lost to Jackson Center 42-37.

Fort Recovery (1-4) also battled the undefeated Minster Wildcats for three quarters Thursday before fading to a 15-point loss on the road. Both Minster and Jackson Center were rated in the top five in the area in the Dayton Daily News Division IV rankings.

“I know we are (close),” said Fort Recovery coach Jeff Roessner, whose team led 37-34 but failed to score in the final 1:53 as the Tigers finished on an 8-0 run. “This is our third game on the road this week, our third game in five days.

“It was a tough loss. Obviously it’s a game that we had chances to win. Some unforced errors late and some missed opportunities shooting the ball hurt us down the stretch.”

The Indians scored for the last time when Holly Stein recovered an errant inbound pass from Krystal Rammel and flashed to the hoop for an easy score. Her bucket gave them a 37-34 lead with 1:54 on the clock, and Jackson Center took a time out one second later.

Heather Glass scored on a back-door cut on the next possession to pull the Tigers within two.

After a turnover on the offensive end, the Tribe broke down defensively again allowing Glass an improvised back-door cut. She missed the shot, but went to the line to make a pair of free throws to give Jackson Center the advantage.

Catie Halberstadt rejected a Joscie Kaup shot on the next Fort Recovery possession, and then made a free throw on the opposite end. A free throw by Brooke Huffer put the Tigers up by three, and Kaup missed a wide-open 3-pointer from the top of the key with fewer than 10 seconds to go.

Halberstadt scored a bucket on a long outlet pass from Huffer for the final margin.

“She just saw it,” said Jackson Center coach Gale Gooding of Glass’ second back-door cut. “We had another play called and it broke down, and she just went.”

Glass hit everything she tossed up in warm-ups, but struggled early as Fort Recovery blasted out to a 10-0 lead. The Indians got four points each from Kaup and Rammel, and two by Jenn Stahl during the early run.

But, Halberstadt keyed the Jackson Center offense after it opened 0-7 from the field. She hit each of her first five field goal attempts, scoring 10 of her game-high 13 points in the first half.

She also finished with seven rebounds.

Glass missed the first six shots she took, but came alive to score all of her ten points after the intermission. Kristi Platfoot finished with seven points and eight rebounds, and Brooke Huffer grabbed seven boards.

“We started out slow,” said Gooding. “We knew if they just settled down and started running their game they’d be all right.

“The kids adjusted well after halftime. They came out and just got on it. They did a nice job.”

Fort Recovery had all kinds of problems getting its shots to fall after the fast start. It had open look after open look on inbound plays, but nothing would go through the net.

The Indians shot just 2-of-14 (14 percent) in the third quarter on the way to a 29 percent effort in the contest.

Rammel paced the Tribe with 10 points and eight rebounds. Stahl finished with eight points and seven boards, and Kaup scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds.

“We had probably eight to 10 open shots from 10 to 12 feet that we just didn’t make,” said Roessner. “Even the 3-pointer at the end.

“We missed shots that we normally drill.”

Fort Recovery will try to pick up its first Midwest Athletic Conference win when it hosts New Knoxville Thursday at 6 p.m.

Junior varsity

Fort Recovery’s junior varsity team put together a big first quarter and stayed ahead throughout the game for a 46-34 victory over Jackson Center.

The Indians (3-2) outscored Jackson Center 18-9 in the first quarter en route to a 44 percent shooting effort in the first half.

Kelsie Will, Sara Fortkamp and Kelly Link each finished with eight points. Link also grabbed 12 rebounds, leading the Tribe to a 42-24 advantage on the glass.

Tiff Gaerke finished with six points, nine rebounds and four steals. Fortkamp dished out six assists.

Abby Lotz led the Tigers with six points and six rebounds. Milly Stockstill had six points and five boards, and Amber Stelzner also had six points.[[In-content Ad]]