Veteran FR team opens Saturday

FORT RECOVERY — It’s time for basketball in Fort Recovery.
More than two-thirds of Fort Recovery High School’s boys basketball program played on the Indians’ state champion football team.
And eight days after those players left the football field for the last time this season, the Tribe begins year two under coach Chris Guggenbiller almost on the run.
“We’re going to be raw,” said Guggenbiller, whose Tribe squad opens its season at 6 p.m. Saturday on the road at Lima Shawnee. “It’s going to be ugly at first.”
The Indians, who were originally scheduled to open Nov. 27, will be rusty. They’re shooting won’t be the best in the beginning, and neither will their defense.
“We’re trying to get our basketball legs, but it’s a process,” he said. “There is still high expectation within the group. We expect to be successful from game one all the way through the season.”
Guggenbiller said those successes may not come in the form of wins and losses early on, but rather finding victories in small ways.
“Those things are going to lead to overall larger success,” he said.
Guggenbiller and the Indians return three of their top four scorers from last season, led by junior Micaiah Cox and his average of 13.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Senior Darien Sheffer — he was honorable mention all-Midwest Athletic Conference as a junior — was second in scoring with 7.7 points per game, and junior Caleb Martin was close behind with 6.6 PPG.
Cox, a 6-foot, 4-inch forward, is expected to do much of the same, if not more, this year.
“He has put in a lot of time since this point last year,” Guggenbiller said. “He is the type of kid that wants to be coached, loves being coached and loves improving just in the little nuances of the game.”
Guggenbiller also noted that Cox, who only attempted 14 3-pointers last season, might step out and shoot from long distance more often.
“He’s going to have a big junior year,” Guggenbiller said. “He’s going to have a lot more attention at the beginning of the season than last year among opposing defenses.
“All those things combined, I look for Micaiah to step up and keep producing for us while others are also able to produce on a higher level than they were last year.”
Kyle Schroer, a senior, was third on the team with an average of 7.6 points, but he isn’t expected to return until the middle of January after breaking his fibula during football season.
Fort Recovery also has three players — seniors Wes Wenning, Chase Bruns and all-MAC honorable mention Brandon “Speedy” Schoen — who played in every game as juniors. The Indians only lost two seniors, Derek Backs and Cole Hull. The former played every game, averaging 3.8 points.
It’s a group of veteran players Guggenbiller said brings some excitement to the court for his second year at the helm.
“We spent much of last year trying to feel each other out in terms of the coaching staff (and) the players,” he said. The Indians were 7-16 with losing streaks of three or more games on three separate occasions. “The wins and losses weren’t exactly where we wanted them, but you take a look at that and start breaking things down, it is correcting a few mistakes in some of those losses and all of the sudden those wins and losses look a little bit better.”
Schoen will reprise his role as point guard. He tallied 118 assists with a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. Newcomer Matt Bihn, Sheffer and Bruns are also capable of playing either of the two guard spots or small forward.
“Last year we depended a lot on Speedy getting the ball up the court for us,” Guggenbiller said. “Hopefully we’re a little more diverse in that this year and it doesn’t take such a toll on him.”
Kyle Knapke, a 6-foot, 4-inch center, Wenning, Cox and Martin will all be in the post.
“Lot of interchangeable parts which is nice,” Guggenbiller said. “We can go nine, 10 deep and still be very competitive and that’s what makes the practice environment really intense. Guys are continually fighting for their spots because they know that line from being a start to being a backup is really thin.”
Fort Recovery finished 2-7 and tied for eighth in the MAC last season, and lost its conference games by an average of almost 20 points. Guggenbiller can point to turnovers as a cause for most of those losses, as the Tribe averaged around 17 giveaways against conference opponents.
“You’re not going to win many league games, you’re not going to beat many good teams doing that,” he said. “We definitely have to reduce the number of turnovers.”
He also felt the Indians gave up too many easy baskets, especially on put-backs in the paint. Getting hands in the face of shooters and making it difficult for opposing players can help take away easy points.
“Then all of the sudden the scoreboard is in your favor at the end of the game,” he said.”