Tribe surge falls short

FORT RECOVERY — It wasn’t a good start for the home team.

The Indians trailed by as many as 15 points in the opening quarter.

They spent the better part of the next two quarters clawing their way back, and got as close as three possessions in the third period.

Isaiah Gable wasn’t going to have any more of the Tribe trying to continue to cut into the deficit.

Gable nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter and scored eight of his team’s 22 points in the final eight minutes, putting an end to any chance the Fort Recovery High School boys basketball team had for a comeback in a 64-49 loss to the Greenville Green Wave on Monday at Fort Site Fieldhouse.

“I tell you what, Gable is a nice player,” FRHS interim coach Chris Bihn said. Coach Chris Guggenbiller has been suspended for disciplinary reasons. “He is a tough matchup inside (and) outside.”

Gable’s triple — he was 3-for-9 from long range and had three dunks in the fourth quarter on his way to a game-high 21 points — pushed Greenville’s advantage to 42-32 heading into the final frame.

Fort Recovery senior Matt Bihn split a pair of free throws to trim the margin to single digits, but Greenville (12-6) scored the next six points. Aaron Rich, who scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, made a layup and assisted on a bucket before Gable’s towering dunk with less than five minutes to play.

“He plays the whole game and plays it really well,” Chris Bihn said.

Gable’s second dunk capped another 6-0 run as Greenville led Fort Recovery 53-35 with 4:30 to play.

Still the Indians (11-6), who were coming off consecutive victories after losing the previous four games, continued to fight on defense and work for open looks on offense.

Micaiah Cox scored two of his 10 points to jumpstart an 7-0 FRHS run. Bihn (11 points) made two free throws, and Jason Roessner (team-high 12 points) drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 55-44.

“Our kids, I thought, fought hard,” Chris Bihn said. “They continued to scratch and claw and fight and do whatever they could and kept themselves in the game.

“The heart they played with tonight was pretty impressive. I was really happy with that.”

Matt Bihn later made his only 3-pointer of the game as the Indians got as close as 10 points again with 1:15 to play, but they weren’t able to score for the remainder of the contest.

Gable made two free throws to cap his night as Greenville scored the final six points.

The 6-foot, 6-inch Gable, and Rich, who stands 6-feet, 4 inches tall, made things difficult for Cox and the Indians in the paint.

So Fort Recovery started shooting from the perimeter. Unfortunately for them, the shots didn’t fall as hoped. The Tribe was 3-for-12 in the second half and 5-for-20 for the game

“We got some nice looks,” Bihn said. “Didn’t make enough of them obviously, but I thought we did a nice job executing at that point.”



Junior varsity

Fort Recovery led by one point heading into the fourth quarter and exploded for 22 points in the final period in a 57-46 victory.

The Indians had a 31-26 lead at halftime before the Green Wave used an 8-4 advantage in the third quarter to make it a one-point game. 

Fort Recovery outscored Greenville 22-12 in the fourth quarter for the win.

Grant Knapke and Ethan Schoen led the Indians with 15 and 13 points respectively. Reese Rogers followed with eight points, Will Homan chipped in seven points and Blayne Thobe tallied six points.