Patriots fend off Indians

FORT RECOVERY — The Indians scored just five points over the span of 22 minutes.

During that time, the Patriots turned an 8-4 deficit into a 31-13 lead.

The Tribe found life late, pulling within two possessions, but the Patriots put the game away at the free-throw line.

Jay County High School’s girls basketball team used a stout zone defense through the first three and a half quarters and after getting a little complacent midway through the final period it survived a late flurry by the Fort Recovery Indians to pick up a 39-31 victory Saturday afternoon at Fort Site Fieldhouse.

“Defensively we played really well for three quarters,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team has now won five straight games this season and beat its state-line rival for the third year in a row. “And then we got to playing not to lose rather than playing to win.

“We beat a good team today. We’re really happy with the win.”

Saturday’s setback dropped the Indians to 3-2 on the year.

“Obviously we knew coming in that they were going to run a 1-2-2 and we knew that was going to cause us fits,” said second-year Tribe coach Holly Gann. “Obviously I thought that was a good test for us and it didn’t come out the way we wanted it to but I love the way — always — how we are willing to fight, claw and scrape. If we make easier baskets in the beginning, this game could have been a little differently for us.”

Trailing by 18 barely two minutes into the fourth quarter, Fort Recovery started to swing the game in its favor by scoring 10 straight points.

Kierra Wendel hit the first of two free throws, and Whitley Rammel put back Wendel’s miss on the second to make it 31-16.

The next trip down the court, Paige Fortkamp sank the first of her three fourth-quarter 3-pointers and it was 31-19 with 5:02 to go.

Wendel got a basket to fall simply by throwing the ball at the hoop while cutting through the Patriots’ zone to make it a 10-point game with 1:12 later. She then dished an assist to Alli Vaughn, who cut the deficit to single digits.

After Renna Schwieterman made three of four free throws, Fortkamp swished another 3-pointer, this on a Brenna Homan pass, and the margin was back to eight.

Jay County (6-1) turned the ball over on its next possession after a Gann timeout, and then Homan hit Fortkamp for another triple with 1:37 to play. What once was an 18-point hole turned into just five in less than five minutes.

“I think we let down a bit thinking the game was over,” Comer said of the Tribe’s comeback. “We kept emphasizing during timeouts and at halftime that this team can come back quick. They’re not going to continue to shoot the way they’ve been shooting.”

Following Fortkamp’s bucket, however, the Indians missed a 3-pointer and had another one blocked. At the other end, Izzy Rodgers, Madison Dirksen and Schwieterman combined to go 5-of-6 from the stripe to put the game away.

Fort Recovery came out strong to start the game, grabbing an 8-4 lead on 3-pointers from Wendel and Homan sandwiched around a Rammel layup.

But that’s when the well ran dry for the Indians, as they went into halftime shooting just 4-of-24 (16.7%) from the field, including a 1-of-16 (6.3%) effort in the second quarter.

Jay County’s zone defense didn’t allow much in the way of inside chances for Fort Recovery, although the Indians hauled in 21 offensive rebounds (Jay County had 23 total for the game). As a result of not being able to be effective in the paint, the Indians shot 28 of its 48 total field goals from beyond the arc. They made a half dozen of those attempts.

“We run off of, if you’re open and your feet feel good let it fly,” Gann said. “We’re trying to penetrate so once we started dribble penetrating, naturally what was going to happen next is that we were going to dribble penetrate, they were going to collapse and we were going to kick it out for three.

“So was that the game plan? No. But it’s also not one of the things that I’m hating right now because we’ve been shooting threes really well.”

Jay’s Dirksen, who had just five points at halftime, finished with a game-high 14 points. Schwieterman added 11 points. Fortkamp, who made four of her 11 3-point shots, led the Indians with 12 points. Rammel took in a game-best 16 rebounds, nine of which were on the offensive glass and six of those came in the second quarter.

The series between Jay County and Fort Recovery is now 5-5 over the last 10 games, with the Patriots having taken each of the last three. Both teams are 3-2 on their home court.

“It’s always a big game and it’s a great game for the communities,” Comer said. “It gives bragging rights for the year. We have so much respect for them, their coaches and their team. They play so hard. They play a tough schedule in a tough conference.

“It’s always tough to come over here and get a win, and we feel very fortunate to be able to do that today.”



Junior varsity

Jay County outscored Fort Recovery 13-0 in the second quarter on its way to a 31-22 victory.

The Indians (1-4) led 8-3 after the first quarter, but the Patriots (4-2) erased that deficit by halftime (16-8) and were on top 26-14 after three quarters.

Breanna Dirksen of Jay County scored nine points, and teammate Bralee VanSkyock added eight points. Molly Muhlenkamp and Danielle May each contributed four points.

Fort Recovery’s Mara Pearson had a game-high 15 points. Kensey Gaerke added five points.