Turnover trouble

WAPAKONETA, Ohio — The Indians put together a brilliant run in the third quarter to lead by as many as seven points.

But seemingly just as hot as they got to get out front, the offense became just as cold while the Commodores caught fire.

The Fort Recovery High School boys basketball team committed 11 of its 27 turnovers in the fourth quarter Friday, and Perry senior Kobe Glover scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the final eight minutes as the Indians dropped the Division IV district final 54-45 Friday at Wapakoneta.

“We didn’t’ take care of it enough,” said FRHS coach Chris Guggenbiller, whose team had its season come to an end at the hands of Perry in back-to-back seasons. The Commodores defeated the Tribe in last season’s district semifinal.

“Unfortunately, a lot of unforced turnovers, uncharacteristic of us having those types of turnovers,” Guggenbiller said.

Perry coach Matt Tabler, whose team has won 19 straight games, said he was waiting for the Indians to make a change offensively when he switched to a 1-3-1 defense late in the third quarter.

But the Tribe never did, and it turned the ball over on its first four possessions of the fourth.

“I started to feel the momentum toward the end of the third quarter when we went to the 1-3-1 defense,” he said. “Our normal man-to-man wasn’t doing the job. Our full-court pressure, they had no problem with so we had to go to some half-court trap.

“I think that 1-3-1 we did a really good job of … making them feel uncomfortable.”

Just 21 seconds into the final period, Glover completed consecutive three-point plays to kick off an 11-0 Perry run to start the frame. He scored on a baseline drive and made the and-one opportunity, and went coast to coast after a Fort Recovery giveaway while absorbing contact yet again.

“It was a big start there to the fourth quarter with him having two three-point plays back-to-back,” Guggenbiller said. “I don’t think the guys necessarily panicked out of that, but when we back that up with unforced errors … that is what pressure does to you. It makes you do uncharacteristic things and that’s what we did.”

Fort Recovery’s third consecutive turnover led to a Plummie Gardner 3-pointer from the left corner, and yet another give away turned into two bonus free throws by Jakoby Lane-Harvey at the other end.

Orion Monford was second on the Commodores (23-3) with 11 points, and Lane-Harvey finished with 10 points.

Lane-Harvey’s free throws made it 39-33 Perry, and Fort Recovery never got as close as four points the rest of the way.

It was a stark contrast for Fort Recovery (17-8) in the fourth quarter as compared to the third, during which the Indians put together a stretch of 13 straight points to erase a six-point deficit.

Trailing 26-20 nearly two minutes into the second half, Caleb Martin had a jumper from the left side and converted a pair of free throws to trim the margin to two points. The next trip down the court, FRHS senior Micaiah Cox benefitted from a Payton Jutte assist to tie the score, and Martin split a pair of free throws to give the Indians a one-point lead.

Cox led the Indians with 15 points, and Martin chipped in 11 points to go with his game-high 12 rebounds.

Jutte drained a 3-pointer from the left corner and Martin added three more points — he tallied eight in the third quarter — to put the Tribe ahead 33-26 with 1:55 to play.

“We talked all week, when we do break their pressure we can play fundamental half-court offense,” Guggenbiller said. “We were able to do that. We were able to settle in there in the third quarter, execute some things, be patient, reverse the ball. I think that was big there in the third quarter.

“Then the well kind of went dry in the fourth quarter.”

Fort Recovery led 9-5 after the first quarter, and fell behind at halftime as Perry outscored the Indians 14-7 before the break. In the third, Monford had back-to-back buckets around a Fort Recovery turnover to give the Commodores its 26-20 lead ahead the Tribe run.

“We wanted to get back defensively,” Guggenbiller said of his plan to attack the Perry offense that likes to play quickly. “We did a good job covering any guys that wanted to get out and run a little bit.”

In the end, it was the turnovers down the stretch that kept Fort Recovery from its first district title since 2010.

“Their pressure ultimately didn’t hurt us face-to-face, but it hurt us in making our everyday passes,” Guggenbiller said. “Hat’s off to Perry executing things they needed to to be successful here tonight.”