Fort falters in MAC race

FORT RECOVERY — The Indians’ chance at their first MAC title in more than 20 years likely slipped away.
Fort Recovery High School’s girls basketball team led by three points with 2:45 to go, but got outscored 7-1 the rest of the way Thursday in a 43-40 loss to the Minster Wildcats. The defeat dropped the Tribe to 5-2 in the Midwest Athletic Conference, leaving them a game behind Division III No. 8 Versailles (7-1) and New Knoxville (6-1) in the loss column.
Minster took the lead on a free throw by Kayla Richard with 34 seconds left and held on. Bridget Geiger led the Wildcats (11-6, 6-2 MAC) with 15 points.
Tori Lennartz finished with nine points to pace the Indians (12-5), and Kelsey Fiely added 10. They each grabbed nine rebounds.
FRHS dropped the junior varsity game 44-31 with Haley Knapke scoring 10 points.

EJ grapplers cruise
East Jay Middle School’s wrestling team dominated the visiting South Adams Starfires on Friday for a 72-24 victory.
The Chiefs picked up all of their eight victories by pin. Earning wins were Kaimen Sanders (95), Dustin Bricker (100), Mitchel Frasher (105), Ivan Hemmelgarn (110), Brent Englehardt (115), Daniel Ostrowski (125), Ben Antrim (135) and Austin Harter.
Adding exhibition victories were Davis Anderson, Henry Hemmelgarn, Troy Frazier, Brandon Resler and Jacob Ferguson.

Tribe girls win two
FORT RECOVERY — The Fort Recovery eighth grade girls basketball team dominated the Union City Indians 28-12 on Thursday. The seventh grade team added a 35-22 victory.
Jocie Kaiser scored 10 points to lead the Tribe eighth graders, who outscored Union City 17-1 in the second and third quarters. Grace Gehle added nine points.
Carley Stone totaled 10 points for the FRMS seventh grade squad (12-2), which built a 17-0 lead in the opening period. Grace Thien followed with six points.

Eagle wrestlers lose
DUNKIRK — West Jay’s wrestling team came away with four pins Thursday, but suffered a 48-36 loss to visiting Hartford City.
Tristen Miller (105) and Keagan Kane (145) tied for the fastest victory of the night, each finishing their matches with pins in 50 seconds. Logan Drumm (100) and Gage Newsome (160) added pins in 2 minutes, 1 second, and 2:11 respectively.
Earning exhibition wins were Mitchell Ferguson and Nick Overla.

Fort 7th rallies
MINSTER, Ohio — Fort Recovery’s seventh grade boys basketball team rallied Thursday for a 28-26 victory over the Minster Wildcats. The eighth grade Indians lost, 34-31.
Ryan Braun and Cade Wendel each scored nine points for the Tribe seventh graders (9-5), who trailed by five heading into the fourth quarter. Evan Post had six points.
Micaiah Cox finished with 12 points for the eighth grade team, which slipped to 10-4. Caleb Martin added eight points.

WJ 6th graders roll
The West Jay sixth grade basketball teams each picked up a victory Thursday. The girls team clobbered Blackford 47-12, while the boys won 27-9.
Shelby Caldwell scorched Blackford for 29 points to lead the girls team. Cameron Edwards added six points.
Wyatt Geesaman tallied 11 points as the boys team improved to 5-2. Kobe Bennett followed with eight points.
Edwards scored 12 points to lead the WJMS girls B team to a 30-2 victory. Connor Benter had seven points as the boys B team won 19-14.[[In-content Ad]]