November 15, 2016 at 4:48 p.m.
Cougar commit to lead Tribe
Rays of Insight
Before one season is even completely over, another has begun.
While Fort Recovery High School’s football team extended its football season for at least another week Saturday, the girls basketball and girls swimming seasons were already underway in Indiana.
The results, so far, have been good. Jay County’s girls basketball team opened with a victory Thursday over Monroe Central. Then on Saturday, the South Adams girls swimmers won the Norwell Invitational and the girls basketball team defeated Blackford.
Team previews will continue to run in the paper over the course of the next few weeks, but today let’s take a look at some of the individual athletes to watch this year.
Whitney Will
Fort Recovery
As a junior a year ago, Will was one of the leaders of the Tribe girls basketball team that went 19-5 overall and 7-2 in the Midwest Athletic Conference. With fellow All-MAC first-teamer Kendra Siefring lost to graduation, expect that role to grow even more.
She was Fort Recovery’s leading scorer a year ago when she tossed in 11.3 points per game.
While Fort Recovery High School’s football team extended its football season for at least another week Saturday, the girls basketball and girls swimming seasons were already underway in Indiana.
The results, so far, have been good. Jay County’s girls basketball team opened with a victory Thursday over Monroe Central. Then on Saturday, the South Adams girls swimmers won the Norwell Invitational and the girls basketball team defeated Blackford.
Team previews will continue to run in the paper over the course of the next few weeks, but today let’s take a look at some of the individual athletes to watch this year.
Whitney Will
Fort Recovery
As a junior a year ago, Will was one of the leaders of the Tribe girls basketball team that went 19-5 overall and 7-2 in the Midwest Athletic Conference. With fellow All-MAC first-teamer Kendra Siefring lost to graduation, expect that role to grow even more.
She was Fort Recovery’s leading scorer a year ago when she tossed in 11.3 points per game.
She was also second on the team in rebounding with 4.9 per game.
Will, who has committed to University of Saint Francis, shot 5-of-8 from the field and 6-of-7 from the foul line for 17 points for the Indians last season in the Division III district semifinal game against Liberty-Benton. Though that game was a season-ending loss, Fort Recovery will need her to continue to show that type of team leadership if it hopes to make a deeper tournament run this season.
Wyatt Miller
South Adams
Pedigree isn’t everything. But it doesn’t hurt.
Miller’s brother, Sawyer, was a three-time state medalist in wrestling for the Starfires, closing his career with a second-place finish at 120 pounds in 2015. Now Wyatt Miller, a junior, is seeking his own place on the state podium.
The junior won the 106-pound sectional championship at Jay County last season, defeating Norwell’s Kade Zadylak in the finals during the first week of the tournament. A week later, he fell to eventual state medalist Brayden Curtis of Yorktown in the regional title match.
A runner-up regional finish had him in good position for the semi-state, but he fell one victory short of earning a trip to Banker’s Life Fieldhouse. He won by an 11-4 decision in the opening round before getting pinned by JC Herring of Oak Hill in the semifinal.
Nothing on the mat is guaranteed, but Miller seems primed to take a shot at the state podium this season.
Alex Bader
Jay County
As an individual state qualifier in each of her first two seasons, Bader hasn’t exactly been in the shadows as an underclassman for the Patriot girls swim team. But now that her sister and cousin have graduated, a lot more of the spotlight will fall on her.
Bader is the clear leader in the pool for JCHS with two-time state medalist Anne Vormohr, her cousin, and 2016 state medalist Sophie Bader, her sister, now graduated and swimming at Ball State University.
The junior returns after winning sectional titles in both the 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard freestyle last season. She also hopes to become the school’s third medalist in girls swimming in a breaststroke field that just keeps getting faster. She was 11th in the state meet in the event as a freshman and finished 21st last season.
Jay Houck
Jay County
Dan Ferrell’s Jay County High School scoring record stood for 20 years. Before him, Mark McEwen held it for 14.
Houck is hoping to make 2013 graduate Brock McFarland’s reign much shorter.
The Patriot senior is already one of the most prolific scorers in JCHS history. His 764 points rank him 12th all time, and he is likely to become just the third player, along with McFarland and Ferrell, to break the 1,000-point mark.
He has a chance at McFarland’s 1,177-point scoring record as well, though it’s no sure thing.
Houck averaged 15.4 points in 24 games last season. In the same amount of games this year, he would need to average 17.3 to claim the No. 1 spot.
That leaves the possibility that the tournament in March could have both the sectional title and school history on the line.
Will, who has committed to University of Saint Francis, shot 5-of-8 from the field and 6-of-7 from the foul line for 17 points for the Indians last season in the Division III district semifinal game against Liberty-Benton. Though that game was a season-ending loss, Fort Recovery will need her to continue to show that type of team leadership if it hopes to make a deeper tournament run this season.
Wyatt Miller
South Adams
Pedigree isn’t everything. But it doesn’t hurt.
Miller’s brother, Sawyer, was a three-time state medalist in wrestling for the Starfires, closing his career with a second-place finish at 120 pounds in 2015. Now Wyatt Miller, a junior, is seeking his own place on the state podium.
The junior won the 106-pound sectional championship at Jay County last season, defeating Norwell’s Kade Zadylak in the finals during the first week of the tournament. A week later, he fell to eventual state medalist Brayden Curtis of Yorktown in the regional title match.
A runner-up regional finish had him in good position for the semi-state, but he fell one victory short of earning a trip to Banker’s Life Fieldhouse. He won by an 11-4 decision in the opening round before getting pinned by JC Herring of Oak Hill in the semifinal.
Nothing on the mat is guaranteed, but Miller seems primed to take a shot at the state podium this season.
Alex Bader
Jay County
As an individual state qualifier in each of her first two seasons, Bader hasn’t exactly been in the shadows as an underclassman for the Patriot girls swim team. But now that her sister and cousin have graduated, a lot more of the spotlight will fall on her.
Bader is the clear leader in the pool for JCHS with two-time state medalist Anne Vormohr, her cousin, and 2016 state medalist Sophie Bader, her sister, now graduated and swimming at Ball State University.
The junior returns after winning sectional titles in both the 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard freestyle last season. She also hopes to become the school’s third medalist in girls swimming in a breaststroke field that just keeps getting faster. She was 11th in the state meet in the event as a freshman and finished 21st last season.
Jay Houck
Jay County
Dan Ferrell’s Jay County High School scoring record stood for 20 years. Before him, Mark McEwen held it for 14.
Houck is hoping to make 2013 graduate Brock McFarland’s reign much shorter.
The Patriot senior is already one of the most prolific scorers in JCHS history. His 764 points rank him 12th all time, and he is likely to become just the third player, along with McFarland and Ferrell, to break the 1,000-point mark.
He has a chance at McFarland’s 1,177-point scoring record as well, though it’s no sure thing.
Houck averaged 15.4 points in 24 games last season. In the same amount of games this year, he would need to average 17.3 to claim the No. 1 spot.
That leaves the possibility that the tournament in March could have both the sectional title and school history on the line.
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