Four in a row

FORT RECOVERY — The Indians lost their leading scorer 54 seconds into their game.

The Tribe did just enough to keep things close at the intermission. Then the second half adjustments found just the right ways to attack the Rangers and claim control of the game.

Fort Recovery High School’s girls basketball team overcame an injury to Bridget Homan to beat the New Knoxville Rangers 44-37 on Thursday for its fourth straight victory.

“It feels awesome the way that our team was able to dig themselves out a hole they got themselves into early,” said FRHS coach Tyler Dietsch. “Obviously, Bridget going down early in the game was a bit of a change of game plan for us and we had to adjust. We kept things within reach going into halftime and made offensive and defensive adjustments. …

“It was awesome for our girls to be able to grit out a game that we lose our leading scorer and we need some girls to step up. All the way around, I felt we did a great job of that.”

Homan, who averages a team-high 10.4 points per game, went down at 7:06 in the first quarter with an apparent knee injury.

Even without their offensive leader, the Indians (6-12, 2-5 Midwest Athletic Conference) weathered the storm to only be down 25-19 at halftime, when they went back into the locker room to talk things over.

Coming out of the locker room, the Indians made an effort to attack the paint, while also pulling their forwards up to the high post in a horns set.

That horns set is exactly what the Tribe needed to take the lead early in the fourth quarter.

On the first possession of the final period, Makenna Huelskamp entered the ball into Cameron Muhlenkamp on the right elbow. The FRHS junior faked a handoff with Huelskamp before turning to drive toward the rim. Rather than trying to rise over Avery Albers, Muhlenkamp turned to fire the ball to Maddie Schoenlein just inside the left side of the arc for a jumper to tie the game at 33-33.

The next time down the floor, Huelskamp again entered the ball to Muhlenkamp and ran off for a fake handoff. Muhlenkamp held the ball just long enough for Huelskamp to receive a pindown screen from Paisley Hart before tossing it to a lifting Kayla Gaerke, who delivered the assist to Huelskamp to take the 36-33 lead.

“A big part of it was, as I was in the high post, at some points I’d pass it out and some points I’d take it to the basket,” Muhlenkamp said. “So just making it so that they didn’t know what I was going to do next and then knowing my teammates, knowing where they were going to be and getting them the pass that they needed to score.”

Huelskamp led FRHS with 15 points and Muhlenkamp followed with nine and two assists. Schoenlein also put up nine points, including the dagger 3-pointer with 1:56 remaining.

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Fort Recovery girls basketball vs. New Knoxville (1/29/2026)

The Albers sisters led New Knoxville (3-15, 1-6 MAC) with 83.8% of the team’s points. Avery Albers led the Rangers with 16, while Addison Albers had 15 on 7-of-10 from the field.

While both Rangers had success, neither did particularly well without the other on the floor. That became a problem in the second half as Addison Albers dealt with foul trouble. She picked up her second foul 23 seconds into the second quarter, got tagged with her third within a minute of starting the second half and was saddled with a fourth with 2:21 remaining in the third. She fouled out with 2:21 left in the game by setting an illegal screen.

“Addie Albers going out with her fifth foul with three minutes left, that hurt us for sure,” said NKHS coach Alivia Koenig. “Avery definitely feeds off Addie. (Addie) is the older sister, so I think (Avery) pushes herself to be like her. When she’s not on the floor I think she thinks she’s not as big of a threat as when her sister’s on the floor.

Outside of the Albers, only Keira Wellman managed to score for New Knoxville. She had four points at the rim and two more from the free throw line. The rest of the Rangers shot 0-of-8 from the field.

The Indians didn’t give up a single 3-pointer on 11 attempts and even had Schoenlein and Kayla Gaerke block a pair of deep shots. After Gaerke’s block, Fort Recovery managed to come down the floor and the freshman hit a long 2-pointer as time expired in the third quarter.

“Kayla  was able to make some big timely plays and use her long arms to get a deflection whether if it’s on a shot or pass,” Dietsch said. “Maddie Schoenlein was able to do the same thing for us to make some big defensive plays. … Then Paisley Hart as well, she had the task of guarding Paige Webb. She’s one of the leading 3-point shooters in the area and she wasn’t able to score tonight.”

Fort Recovery lost its first nine games of the season before getting back-to-back victories against Preble Shawnee and Graham Local. The Indians then slid backwards for three more losses, but have built a four-game winning streak with four regular season games remaining.

“It’s really important for the girls to be able to see wins,” Dietsch said. “It’s really come a long way. … It’s good to have a little bit of a streak, especially going into the tournament. As of right now, we’re climbing up the ranks in our district. Every win helps us get a better seed and a little bit better draw and once you get into it, anything can happen.”