Stingy defense puts Tribe in final

Copyright 2017, The Commercial Review



All Rights ReservedCopyright 2017, The Commercial Review

All Rights Reserved

WAPAKONETA, Ohio — During the first quarter, the Panthers had trouble getting through the Tribe defense.

The same was true in the second quarter too, and their shots went anywhere except through the hoop.

Fort Recovery High School’s girls basketball team built its lead thanks to forcing 17 first-half turnovers in beating the Midwest Athletic Conference rival Parkway Panthers 63-32 in the Division III sectional semifinal Wednesday.

The Indians (18-3) meet the Patrick Henry Patriots (14-7) in the sectional championship at 8 p.m. Saturday. The Patriots defeated the Paulding Panthers 42-30 earlier Wednesday night.

“We came out focused and prepared and ready to go,” said FRHS senior Jocelyn Kaiser, who shared the game high of a dozen points with teammates Kiah Wendel and Carley Stone. “Everyone knew what we had to do. We were all in our right positions on defense and that is how we got some of our steals.”

Parkway (3-20) turned the ball over on its first possession, and Kaiser went coast-to-coast for the first basket of the game. The Panthers missed a 3-pointer the next time down the court before six straight turnovers.

Fort Recovery scored off all but one of those giveaways, and was on top 8-0 just 89 seconds into the game. It was 10-0 Indians before Haley Hawk made a pair of free throws for the first Parkway points.

Stone drove the right baseline for a layup to kick off another 10-point run, and the Indians led 27-7 after the first quarter.

“That was the perfect start,” said FRHS coach Brian Patch, whose team defeated Parkway 65-31 Feb. 2 in Rockford. “That was what we talked about, jump on them early and basically leave no doubt who’s the better team.”

Fort Recovery’s defense was just as stellar in the second quarter, during which it allowed just six shot attempts — Parkway missed all of them — and kept the Panthers off the scoreboard. The Tribe’s offense, meanwhile, scored 15 more points to lead 42-7 at half.

“Defensively that is the team we can be,” Patch said. “That part was good because it helped us get the lead.”

Parkway was 2-for-13 (15.4 percent) from the field in the first half, and made only one of its six 3-point attempts. Fort Recovery, on the other hand, was nearly 56 percent from the field.

The Indians led by as many as 41 points (50-9) almost three minutes into the second half before the Panthers started making some shots. Sydney Crouch hit a jumper from the right side to begin a 9-2 PHS run as the Panthers outscored the Tribe 11-5 in the final 4:42.

“I’m thinking about the part in the second half where we didn’t play as well,” Patch said. “That is the part for me I’m not happy with.

“It’s hard when you’re up 40-some points to keep your focus, but for us that is what we were harping on constantly. Unfortunately, I don’t think we did a great job of that in the second half, but again that is the tendency when you’re up that much to do that.”

Much of Fort Recovery’s struggles defensively in the third quarter were because of the relative youth of the five players Patch had on the floor. Freshmen Val Muhlenkamp (seven points), Brooke Kahlig (six points), Chloe Showalter (two points) and Olivia Patch saw a considerable amount of minutes during the second half.

But Patch understands it comes with the territory of playing the underclassmen.

“Those are the growing pains that we’ll go through with those younger kids,” he said. “Hopefully the older kids can teach those kids and talk to then, coach them through the moments so we have far less of those.

“They gave us great minutes.”

Patrick Henry has won four straight games and five of its last six, and both Kaiser and Patch feel it will be defense, not offense, that the Indians have to focus on yet again.

“I think our defense will be key in that game,” Kaiser said. “I noticed they were driving a lot so we have to keep our defense intensity up and know who we are guarding and what they can do.”



WAPAKONETA, Ohio — During the first quarter, the Panthers had trouble getting through the Tribe defense.



The same was true in the second quarter too, but their shots went anywhere except through the hoop.



Fort Recovery High School’s girls basketball team built its lead thanks to 17 first-half turnovers in beating Midwest Athletic Conference rival Parkway Panthers 63-32 in the Division III sectional semifinal on Wednesday at Wapakoneta.



The Indians (18-3), who are ranked eighth in the state, meet the Patrick Henry Patriots (14-7) in the sectional semifinal at 8 p.m. Saturday. The Patriots defeated the Paulding Panthers 42-30 earlier Wednesday night.



“We came out focused and prepared and ready to go,” said FRHS senior Jocelyn Kaiser, who shared the game high of a dozen points with teammates Kiah Wendel and Carley Stone. “Everyone knew what we had to do. We were all in our right positions on defense and that is how we got some of our steals.”



Parkway (3-20) turned the ball over on its first possession, and Kaiser went coast-to-coast for the first basket of the game. The Panthers missed a 3-pointer the next time down the court before six straight turnovers.



Fort Recovery scored off all but one of those giveaways, and was on top 8-0 just 89 seconds into the game. It was 10-0 Indians before Haley Hawk made a pair of free throws for the first Parkway points.



Stone drove the right baseline for a layup to kick off another 10-point run, and the Indians led 27-7 after the first quarter.



“That was the perfect start,” said FRHS coach Brian Patch, whose team defeated Parkway 65-31 Feb. 2 in Rockford. “That was what we talked about, jump on them early and basically leave no doubt who’s the better team.”



Fort Recovery’s defense was just as stellar in the second quarter, during which it allowed just six shot attempts — Parkway missed all of them — and kept the Panthers off the scoreboard. The Tribe’s offense, meanwhile, scored 15 more points to lead 42-7 at half.



“Defensively that is the team we can be,” Patch said. “That part was good because it helped us get the lead.”



Parkway was 2-for-13 (15.4 percent) from the field in the first half, and made only one of its six 3-point attempts. Fort Recovery, on the other hand, was nearly 56 percent from the field.



The Indians led by as many as 41 points (50-9) almost three minutes into the second half before the Panthers started making some shots. Sydney Crouch hit a jumper from the right side to begin a 9-2 PHS run as the Panthers outscored the Tribe 11-5 in the final 4:42.



“I’m thinking about the part in the second half where we didn’t play as well,” Patch said. “That is the part for me I’m not happy with.



“It’s hard when you’re up 40-some points to keep your focus, but for us that is what we were harping on constantly. Unfortunately, I don’t think we did a great job of that in the second half, but again that is the tendency when you’re up that much to do that.”



Much of Fort Recovery’s struggles defensively in the third quarter were because of the relative youth of the five players Patch had on the floor. Freshmen Val Muhlenkamp (seven points), Brooke Kahlig (six points), Chloe Showalter (two points) and Olivia Patch saw considerable amount of minutes during the second half.



But Patch understands it comes with the territory of playing the underclassmen.



“Those are the growing pains that we’ll go through with those younger kids,” he said. “Hopefully the older kids can teach those kids and talk to then, coach them through the moments so we have far less of those.



“They gave us great minutes.”



Patrick Henry has won four straight games and five of its last six, and both Kaiser and Patch feel it will be defense, not offense, that the Indians have to focus on yet again.



“I think our defense will be key in that game,” Kaiser said. “I noticed they were driving a lot so we have to keep our defense intensity up and know who we are guarding and what they can do.”