Strong start lifts Tribe

FORT RECOVERY — A strong first half carried the Indians to a win.

It put coach Brian Patch at the top.

The Fort Recovery High School girls basketball team defeated the Van Wert Cougars 49-32 on Saturday at Fort Site Fieldhouse.

It was the 222nd career victory for Patch, making him the winningest coach at Fort Recovery. Patch coached the Tribe boys for 11 seasons before taking over the girls program in 2014.

The Indians (8-1) had a slight 14-13 edge over the Cougars after a quarter of play and were out front 29-22 at halftime. The Tribe held Van Wert to just four points in the third quarter in building on its lead before pulling away in the fourth.

Grace Thien led the squad with 16 points, including three 3-pointers. Carley Stone followed with 14 points and Kiah Wendel added 11 to give FRHS three players in double figures.

Fort Recovery’s junior varsity team also won, 43-19. Brenna Homan notched 16 points to lead the Tribe, and Hope Wendel scored 10 points.



Tribe win in OT

FORT RECOVERY — Cade Wendel was 7-of-8 from the free-throw line in overtime and Payton Jutte had another 30-plus-point effort Saturday as the Fort Recovery High School boys basketball team defeated the Lincolnview Lancers 73-68 in at Fort Site Fieldhouse.

The Indians (6-3) took a four-point lead into halftime before pushing the advantage to 39-32 heading into the fourth quarter. But that’s when Lincolnview’s offense fired back as it made five 3-pointers on its way to 26 points in the fourth period to force overtime.

Wendel carried the Tribe from the foul line in OT, and Jutte tacked on six of his game-high 33 points in the extra period.

Wendel finished with 17 points, and Ryan Braun chipped in 14 points.

Fort Recovery’s junior varsity team edged Lincolnview, 52-51. Brian Bihn and Ryne Post both scored 13 points for the Indians, who also got nine points from Ian Homan.



Stars fall to Eagles

MUNCIE — The South Adams boys basketball team surrendered more than 20 points in the first and fourth quarters Saturday in a 67-41 loss to the host Delta Eagles.

The Starfires (3-6) fell behind 21-6 after the first quarter and were behind 33-21 at half. Delta (9-2) took a 45-27 lead into the third quarter before blowing away the Stars in the final eight minutes.

Grant Besser had 13 points as the only Starfire to reach double figures. James Arnold was second on the team with eight points to go with his team-high four assists. Lars In’t Groen scored five points and hauled in five rebounds. Brandon Newman, David Muselman and Kody Fike all had four points for South Adams, which opens Allen County Athletic Conference play Tuesday at home against Bluffton.



Two Stars place

NEW HAVEN — Three South Adams wrestlers finished third or better Saturday at the Bill Kerbel New Haven Invitational.

Homestead won the team championship with 211 points. Leo was second with 207.5 points, and Bishop Dwenger totaled 163 points for third. South Adams scored 79 points for 12th.

Michael Rupp, a sophomore, was runner-up at 113 pounds. He received forfeits to the semifinal where he pinned Bluffton’s Grant Bultemeier in 1 minute, 47 seconds. He then dropped a 9-4 decision to Bishop Dwenger’s Joshua Smith-Goheen.

Taylor Cueller was also runner-up at 285 pounds. He pinned Caleb Salinas of New Haven in 2:22 in the quarterfinal, defeated Andre Hughes of Bluffton by a 4-1 decision before dropping a 3-1 score to Isaiah Oakley of Homestead.

Brandon Wynn was third at 126 pounds.



Jay goes 4-1

RICHMOND — The Jay County wrestling B team went 4-1 on Saturday in the Wayne County Classic at Richmond High School.

Jay County picked up wins against Union County (67-6), Tri (54-30), Northeastern (60-18) and Union City (51-18). Its only loss was to Centerville, 46-33.

Seth Fugiett, Derek Potter and Dawson Frasher were all 4-0 on the day. Drew Simmons (2-0) was also undefeated.

Lita Chowning, Taylor Klarer, Cooper Jacks and Lucas Schmit were each 4-1 on the day. Jordan Schricker and Garrett Mann were both 3-1.



JC ninth at state

FRANKLIN — The Jay County elementary wrestling team was ninth Sunday at the Elementary State Duals at Franklin High School.

Jay County was 1-2 in pool play with its only win against Warren Central, 58-27. The Patriots lost to Avon (48-39) and Evansville Mater Dei (45-42). They defeated Rebel WF 84-5 in the consolation bracket before edging Perry Merdian 47-46 in the ninth-place match.

Jensen Boyd, Bradin Daniels, Cameron Clark and Bryce Wenk were all 5-0 on the day. Tony Wood and Tristan Stout had 4-1 records, while Carson Pfeifer, Tripp Haisley, Xander Torre, Sean Bailey and Conner Specht each finished 3-2. Memphis Torre won his only match of the day.