Tribe wins opener over Knights, 57-37

FORT RECOVERY — The Indians made more than half of the shots they took in the opening quarter.
At the same time the Knights missed their first 10 field-goal attempts.
Strong defensive pressure and solid shooting at the other end was the right recipe for the Fort Recovery High School girls basketball team Thursday as it won its season opener 57-37 over the visiting Crestview Knights at Fort Site Fieldhouse.
“It feels good to start off with a win, but we know that we have to get better every game to accomplish our goals,” said Whitney Will, a senior who led the Indians with 20 points and 13 rebounds. “I’m really proud of my team.”
It was game’s first quarter that proved to be the difference. Will, who committed to play at University of Saint Francis next season, scored off the opening tip on a feed from Carley Stone, and classmate Jocelyn Kaiser followed with an offensive rebound put-back for a quick 4-0 FRHS advantage.
Crestview’s Paige Motycka sank a pair of free throws — she had a game-high 28 points, 16 of which came from the charity stripe — to cut the deficit in half. It was the closest the Knights (0-1) got for the rest of the game.
Another Kaiser bucket and a layup and a foul shot from Carley Stone pushed the Tribe’s advantage to 9-2 less than two minutes into the contest.
The Knights proceeded to put the ball everywhere but through the hoop, as they came up empty on their first 10 shots and were 1-of-11 from the field.
“Defensively we were very solid,” said Brian Patch, Fort Recovery’s coach. “I thought our kids were well prepared for the game plan and what we wanted to do.”
Will agreed.
“We played really good team defense,” she said. “We were moving and knew what the game plan was and I think we executed the game plan well.”
Motycka scored Crestview’s first 10 points, eight of which were from the free-throw line. As the Tribe defense kept up the pressure on her, the rest of teammates weren’t much help. The 5-foot, 8-inch junior was 7-for-21 from the field while her teammates combined to go 2-for-27.
A lot of Motycka’s struggles were because of a combined defensive effort from junior Kiah Wendel and freshman Brooke Kahlig.
“Brooke made it tough on her to earn some stuff,” Patch said. “Kiah really did a great job defensively; made it tough for her to get easy shots. I think that was key for us.”
After a 21-8 lead heading into the second quarter, Will scored seven straight points for the Indians and tallied nine of 11, helping the tribe to an 11-5 run for a 32-13 lead. She drove the right baseline for a basket, had two put-backs on offensive rebounds and sank three shots from the stripe.
“Whit getting a double-double, she played really well,” Patch said. “That is what we talked about, challenging her. She has the capability of being really good and she came out and played that way tonight.”
“I just did what I needed to do and worked hard,” Will said.
Junior guard Grace Thien joined Will in double figures with 10 points, and Kaiser followed with eight points and eight rebounds. Stone finished with seven points and eight rebounds as well as a game-high five assists.
“It was a good first game for us,” Patch said. “Any time you can come out and get a win and see where you’re at … that was the best thing was to just get out on the floor and see where we’re at.
“Early on we made some silly turnovers and silly decisions on some of our passes and some of our reads. We went through a spell where we didn’t really run our offense well at times.
“That will just continue to get better.”

Junior varsity
Fort Recovery held off a Crestview surge in the third quarter and pulled away in the final frame in a 33-26 victory.
Val Muhlenkamp led a balanced scoring attack for the Indians (1-0) by totaling nine points. Macy Day and Lydia Wenning had seven points each, and Chloe Showalter added five. 
Muhlenkamp also grabbed a game-high six rebounds, and Aleigha Jenkins hauled in five. Showalter and Day also had a pair of assists.