Hot start keeps FR perfect

FORT RECOVERY — The Indians got off to a good start offensively.
They built an early lead and were able to sustain it throughout the game.
It was also beneficial the Tribe was able to create possessions by forcing Cardinal turnovers and maintain control by grabbing offensive rebounds.
Fort Recovery High School’s girls basketball team kept its unbeaten conference record intact Thursday with a 52-38 victory over the New Bremen Cardinals at Fort Site Fieldhouse.
“We came out really focused,” said FRHS coach Brian Patch, whose team improved to 5-1 (3-0 Midwest Athletic Conference). “We kind of had a look to us that I haven’t seen quite this year. This was an important game. This was a game we didn’t want to let go, especially at home.
“We have been playing well here lately and we just wanted to continue.”
Back-to-back six-point runs, during which Grace Thien and Carley Stone both had easy buckets after steals, gave the Indians an early 14-5 lead. Stone went the length of the court on hers, and Thien swiped the ball away from under the hoop for the easy layup.
Thien’s came with less than two minutes to play in the opening quarter and forced a timeout from New Bremen coach Chris Burden, who was heated that his team was not playing well.
“One of the keys for us was to rebound the basketball early on and we didn’t rebound the basketball,” said Burden, whose team allowed six offensive rebounds to the Indians in the first quarter. “They were just a little more physical than us tonight.
“After halftime we played them even but the damage was already done.”
Still, Burden was not happy with the dozen offensive rebounds by Fort Recovery. New Bremen (5-3, 2-1 MAC) only had 14 defensive boards.
“You spend so much energy playing good defense and then a shot goes up and you let up an offensive rebound put-back,” he said. Fort Recovery had three baskets in the paint on second-chance points. “That’s a killer to your defense. Just from a mental standpoint that’s tough to come back from.”
Fort Recovery senior Kendra Siefring had eight of her game-high 15 points in the first half, and also led all players with nine rebounds. Junior Whitney Will also had eight points before halftime on the way to her total of 13, and Thien tallied 11 points to give the Indians three players in double figures.
“One thing I think we have is a lot of balance on this team,” Patch said. “We’ve had four or five different leading scorers in our six games that we’ve played. That is important. That is hard to guard when you have multiple people scoring. You can’t just concentrate on one or two kids.”
Jocelyn Kaiser added a game-high six assists to go with her two points and two steals. Stone finished with eight points and five steals, and could have added to those totals if not for an ankle injury late in the third quarter.
Another thing that Patch was pleased with was the Tribe tenacity on defense to force the Cardinals into 18 turnovers, half of which were from guards Alyse Clune and Paige Jones. Fort Recovery totaled a dozen steals for the game.
“I think we set the tone with the pressure and I don’t think they handled it as well. They didn’t like it,” Patch said. “I think it sets the tone for us defensively and how we want to keep attacking and be aggressive.”
Fort Recovery led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter following a Kiah Wendel’s only field goal of the game when she dribbled through two defenders at the baseline and hit a 10-foot jumper.

Junior varsity
A 17-point second quarter helped New Bremen to a 42-25 victory against Fort Recovery.
The Tribe had a 13-6 lead after seven minutes, until the Cardinal offense got going. The Cardinals had a 23-17 advantage heading into the locker room at half.
New Bremen kept the offensive pressure, outscoring Fort Recovery 13-6 in the third quarter, and held the Indians to just two points in the final period.
Chloe Metzger led the Indians with seven points. Brooke Gaerke and Hannah Knapke followed with six and five points respectively, and Gaerke had a game-high eight rebounds. Claire Metzger tallied four points and Elise Gehle chipped in with three