Tribe wins fourth straight

VERSAILLES, Ohio — At times the Indians played with purpose.
They found the open shooter, took good shots and played well defensively.
Other instances, the Tribe was not as efficient.
But they still escaped with a win.
Fort Recovery High School’s girls basketball team won for the fourth game in a row and kept its conference record unblemished Thursday with a 47-37 victory at Versailles.
“We were really good for a majority of the game,” said FRHS coach Brian Patch, whose team moved to 11-2 and 5-0 in Midwest Athletic Conference play. “But the moments we were bad, we were really, really bad.
“Fortunate for us we had not as many of those moments.”
One instance the Tribe played well was during the opening quarter, when it held Versailles (10-6, 2-4 MAC) without a field goal for more than five minutes to end the opening period.
Fort Recovery’s offense, meanwhile, helped it to a 12-4 lead after the first quarter, but a 6-2 push by the Tigers got the home team to within two possessions. Near the end of the first half, Patch had to call a timeout to avoid a 10-second violation after his team had a difficult time getting through the Versailles press.
Senior Kendra Siefring and junior Jocelyn Kaiser combined to score the first six points of the third quarter, helping the Indians build off their 23-17 halftime lead. Patch said Siefring — she is fourth in the conference in scoring (12.2 points per game) — came out of the locker room on more of a mission.
“One of those people who were not happy with themselves (at half) was Kendra,” he said. She finished with 11 points after scoring just three in the first 16 minutes. “She missed some easy looks that she’s got to be able to hit. She knows she didn’t play very well.”
Siefring started the second half with a put-back, scored later in the third on a spin move and slipped through the Tigers’ defense in the fourth for a back-door layup.
“That is one of the first times she’s  gone up against someone her size,” Patch said. Danielle Winner, a 6-foot, 2-inch sophomore, defended her for most of the game.
One of those bad instances for the Indians was during the fourth quarter during which they committed six of their 18 turnovers. Often, Tribe ball handlers got trapped in the half court or deep in the corners and had to make desperation passes. On a few occasions, the Tigers’ press got to be too much in the full court.
“We haven’t faced that kind of pressure in the fourth quarter,” said Patch, whose team has won four consecutive games for the second time this season.
Fort Recovery entered the game tops in the conference in field goal percentage (45.8 percent) but did not show it in the opening half as it hit for 36 percent from the field.
The second half, though, the Indians nearly doubled their shooting percentage, making 10-of-16 shots (62 percent).
“At times we were rushing and doing too much more than we are capable of doing,” Patch said. “I think we settled down and played more our way.”
Grace Thien, who leads the MAC in 3-point shooting percentage (40 percent), matched her season average by going 2-of-5 from long distance and finished tied for the game-high with 12 points. She also led the team with seven rebounds.
Carley Stone scored nine points and led all players with eight steals. Kiah Wendel and Kaiser had for points apiece.
Lauren Monnin of Versailles scored 12 points to lead the Tigers, and she did most of her scoring on easy shots. She was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Kami McEldowney added seven points for Versailles.
Patch said he was fortunate to return home with another conference victory, but noted there are still things the Indians need to improve for the rest of the season.
“It’s not about going out and winning,” said Patch, whose team plays at South Adams on Tuesday. “It’s about trying to do what we are supposed to do every single play because ultimately that’s what you have to do in the (postseason) tournament.
“To be a good team, which is what we want to be, we have to do that consistently.”

Junior varsity
Fort Recovery’s junior varsity team fell to 4-8 on the season with a 47-20 loss to the Tigers.
The Indians were without a point in the opening quarter, and fell behind 25-8 at half. Versailles pushed the score to 34-11 to start the fourth quarter, and limited the Tribe’s damage in the final seven minutes.
Chloe Metzger had a team-high eight points for the Indians, and Elise Gehle added six. Brooke Gaerke and Hannah Knapke each tallied three points. Gaerke grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
Elizabeth Ording of Versailles led all players with 10 points.