Bihn buries Blue Jays as Tribe wins in OT

DELPHOS, OHIO — The Indians saw their five-point lead in the fourth quarter fade away before Micaiah Cox’s potential game-winning 3-pointer missed and the game went into overtime.

Then it was the Tribe’s time to return the favor.

A Matt Bihn basket with five seconds remaining gave the Fort Recovery High School boys basketball team a 56-55 victory Friday against Delphos St. John’s in the Midwest Athletic Conference opener for the Indians.

The Tribe crosses the state line today to meet Jay County, with junior varsity action beginning at 6 p.m.

The host Blue Jays nabbed a 53-50 lead with 2 minutes, 24 seconds, remaining in the extra period until Caleb Martin got the Indians (2-0) within one point 10 seconds later. 

A St. John’s turnover at the other end led to another bucket by Martin — he paced the Tribe with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting wth a free throw — to give the Indians a 54-53 advantage.

Tim Kreeger of St. John’s (1-2, 0-2 MAC) made a basket with 19 seconds remaining to put the Blue Jays on top by one until Bihn put the Indians ahead for good.

The game started out as a low-scoring affair, as the teams were tied at four after the first quarter. St. John’s led by as many as six points in the second quarter, but the contest was tied again at 16 heading into intermission. The Blue Jays nabbed a 36-33 advantage after three quarters before the Indians surged briefly in the fourth quarter.

Cox was second in scoring for Fort Recovery with 13 points. Payton Jutte tallied nine points and Bihn recorded eight. Martin paced the Tribe on the boards with nine rebounds while Cox added seven.

Jared Wurst and Kreeger led St. John’s with 16 points apiece, and Owen Rode nabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to go with his dozen points. 

Junior varsity

Fort Recovery fell behind after the first quarter and was never able to catch up in a 54-41 loss.

The Indians (0-2) fell in a 22-11 hole after seven minutes, and trailed 38-14 at halftime. Fort Recovery got three points back in the third quarter thanks to an 8-5 edge, but couldn’t complete the rally in the final quarter.

Clayton Pearson and Noah Lennartz finished with 15 and 11 points respectively for the Indians, who also got seven points from Trevor Vaughn and three each from Grant Knapke and Will Homan. Lennartz grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Indians.