FR takes win by putting heat on Jay in 4th (12/29/04)

FORT RECOVERY — Pressure.

When Fort Recovery brought it, two things happened: Jay County stopped scoring; and the Indians finally found a way to put the ball in the hole.

After scoring 28 points in the first three quarters combined, the Tribe put up 22 in the fourth as it pushed past the Patriots 50-48 Tuesday night.

“I think we realized how much we had to play,” said sophomore Tiff Gaerke, who paced Fort Recovery with 18 points. “It wasn’t going to be easy. We just had to work together.”

The Indians (6-3) trailed for more than 22 minutes spanning the second and third quarters, but picked up the defensive pressure in the fourth. They held Jay County (9-2) scoreless for the first 4:05 of the final period as they went on a 12-3 run to erase a 32-28 deficit after three quarters.

Fort Recovery caused 32 Patriot turnovers overall, and many of those in the fourth quarter led to easy baskets or trips to the foul line. The home team went 10-of-13 from the line in the final period, led by Gaerke’s 10-of-13 effort for the game.

“We didn’t think we could pressure them early in the game,” said Fort Recovery coach Jeff Roessner. “We felt like they had too many things they could do. We wanted to make sure they were tired when we decided to pressure them.”

When the pressure was on in the final minutes, the Indians made more big plays.

One of those came on a long baseball pass from Krystal Rammel to Holly Stein. Stein was fouled as she hit the lay-up and converted a 3-point play which gave the Tribe a six-point lead with two minutes left.

The lead grew to seven points on a Rammel hoop on the next possession, but Jay County got back within one after a three-point play by senior Lisa Weitzel with 42 seconds remaining.

Then it was Sara Fortkamp’s turn for Fort. She was fouled three seconds after the Weitzel free throw, and buried both of her attempts for a 48-45 advantage. Following a timeout the Patriots’ Sara Garringer fumbled the ball out of bounds, and on the ensuing play Fortkamp found Gaerke open underneath to push the advantage to five with 20 seconds left.

Jay County was caught with no timeouts and its defensive substitutes in the game, and it took the Patriots too long to get a shot off. Abby Loy made the shot, but her 3-pointer fell through the net with just one second left and the clock ran out on the Patriots.

Fort Recovery got the victory despite shooting just 31 percent for the game. The Indians took 23 more shots than Jay County thanks to 12 fewer turnovers and a 34-26 rebounding advantage.

“The secret for us is what we do on the defensive end, not the offensive end,” said Roessner. “You can see if this team gets it together on the offensive end it’s going to be tough.”

Rammel, Stein and Gaerke paced the big rebounding advantage as they grabbed nine, eight and seven respectively. Stein followed Gaerke with nine points, and Rammel scored eight.

The loss was the first for the Patriots since the season-opener against Fort Wayne South Side, ending a nine-game winning streak. That end came despite shooting 48 percent from the field.

Fort Recovery became the first team all season to score 50 points against the Jay County defense.

The Patriots got 13 points from Garringer and 12 from Jamie Bruggeman. Weitzel scored seven of her 10 points in the fourth quarter, and went 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.

Weitzel added a team-high five rebounds, and Garringer finished with five assists.

“I think the difference in the game was their offensive rebounding,” said Jay County coach Kirk Comer. “We didn’t make contact on our box outs. We turned the ball over too many times.

“When you give a team that’s as good as they are that many opportunities you’re probably not going to come out on top.”

The teams’ schedules head in opposite directions for the next game. The Patriots will have to deal with undefeated Elwood (10-0), while Fort Recovery plays winless South Adams (0-10).[[In-content Ad]]