Late run lifts Tribe

FORT RECOVERY — Trailing by four nearly midway through the third quarter, the Blue Jays closed the period on a 7-2 run and nabbed a one-point lead.
The Indians returned the favor during the fourth, using an 11-2 run to start the frame.
Fort Recovery High School’s boys basketball team won for the second time in as many games Tuesday, knocking off the Delphos St. Johns Blue Jays 50-40.
The Indians (11-5, 4-2 Midwest Athletic Conference) were behind on the scoreboard 34-33 to start the fourth quarter. Caleb Martin of Fort Recovery and Tim Kreeger of St. John’s traded baskets to keep the one-point margin with 5:04 remaining.
Martin notched two more of his six points, kicking off a 9-0 run for the Indians.
Micaiah Cox, who led all players with 17 points and chipped in with six rebounds, had four points during the streak. Darien Sheffer also hit a 3-pointer from the right wing, and finished second on the team with 12 points.
The Blue Jays’ Jesse Ditto ended the streak with two of his four points, then Sheffer hit another bucket as Fort Recovery scored six of the final eight points of the game.
Fort Recovery led 16-13 after the first quarter and pushed the advantage to 25-19 despite shooting 11-for-30 from the field before intermission. The Indians, who have road games Friday and Saturday at New Knoxville and Arcanum respectively, shot 50 percent (11-for-22) after intermission and were 42.3 percent for the game.
Brandon “Speedy” Schoen totaled seven points, two assists and one steal. Martin grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, and Sheffer led all players with five assists.
Robby Saine of St. John’s totaled nine points, doing all of his damage from the 3-point line. Tim Kreeger added eight points, with Jared Wurst and Ryan Hellman adding six points each.

Junior varsity
Fort Recovery had a double-digit lead after three quarters fall by the wayside, but the Indians hung on for a 54-49 victory.
The Tribe (11-5) led 44-32 heading into the fourth quarter. St. John’s had a 17-10 advantage during the final seven minutes, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
Ryan Braun and Payton Jutte scored 11 and 10 points respectively to lead the Indians. Travis Sutter, Clayton Pearson and Reese Rogers each added eight points.
Connor Hulian of St. John’s led all players with 16 points.