Fort fights to the finish

ROCKFORD, Ohio — Late in a game last week, Tribe coach Holly Gann noticed the demeanor of her team during a timeout.

The players looked defeated, and they went on to lose their first conference game to Delphos St. John’s.

Down by three Thursday night midway through the third quarter, there was another break in the action.

This time, Gann saw a different squad.

Fort Recovery High School’s girls basketball team scored 10 straight fourth-quarter points, including five from Kierra Wendel and a corner three from Brenna Homan, to overtake the host Parkway Panthers for a 48-41 victory.

“As a coach I’m just super proud,” said Gann, the Indians’ second-year coach. “This is a different type of pride for me. Everybody loves to win. But what I saw more that probably made me more emotional and more proud was the fact that we were willing to fight.”

The Indians (5-3, 3-1 Midwest Athletic Conference), who are defending conference champions, led the back-and-forth affair 36-33 at the end of the third quarter.

But following nearly four minutes of lackluster offense by both teams, Parkway (3-3, 1-2 MAC) took a two-point lead on a bucket from sophomore standout Gabrielle Stobler and 3-pointer from classmate Emiree Knittle. Stobler ended with 14 points to lead the Panthers.

With 3:15 to play, Parkway coach Dan Williamson called a timeout. On it first possession out of the break, Parkway turned the ball over and Wendel gave the Indians the lead with a layup and a free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play.

A turnover and a miss by the Panthers gave the Indians back the ball, and Wendel drove the left side of the lane for two points and a 41-38 advantage.

On the Indians’ next trip down the court, Alli Vaughn, who had seven assists, notched the final helper of the game as she drove the right side of the lane then kicked to the corner to a wide open Homan.

Homan, who already had four points, let fly the corner triple and swished it, extending the Tribe’s lead to 44-38 with 1:15 to go.

“Rule of thumb is if you’re open you’ve got to shoot it,” Gann said. “I’ve never been the coach that says don’t shoot. Now, if you’re not feeling it, don’t shoot.

“Brenna was feeling it. You could already see she was starting the motion the minute she had the ball. It was perfect.

Vaughn capped the 10-0 Tribe run with a pair of free throws to make it 46-38, and the Panthers got their final basket as Paige Williamson had a 3-pointer bounce around the backboard and rim before falling through the hoop.

Wendel, who ended with a game-high 21 points, scored the final points of the night on a fast break in the final seconds.

“Obviously she’s working hard, she doesn’t have an easy job,” Gann said of Wendel, who was 8-of-13 from the field including a 4-of-7 clip from the 3-point line. “Not only is she providing that pressure, adjusting, staying in front of the ball (and) rebounding, but she also has to come offensively and look to drive, get her feet set and shoot when (she’s) tired. Those are huge things not everybody can do.”

In the third quarter, Wendel hit consecutive corner threes for the Indians that helped turn a 29-28 deficit into a 34-31 lead.

In addition to her seven assists, Vaughn added 11 points and shared the team-high of 11 rebounds with Whitley Rammel, who was making her return after missing two games because of COVID-19 contact tracing.

Rammel, a 6-foot, 3-inch junior forward, only had four points, but they came off of set plays in the post. During the first quarter, Vaughn lofted a pass to Rammel at the right block after sealing off her defender and put it up easily for two points. Then in the third quarter, it was Wendel who fed Rammel at the block for a bucket.

It’s a move Gann said she’s been working diligently to improve as part of Rammel’s game, and it opened the floor for the Indians to get looks along the perimeter.

“I feel like that’s a win,” Gann said. “So that four points was a lot more.”

Parkway sophomore Allison Hughes, daughter of Fort Recovery’s all-time leading scorer Lynn (Bihn) Hughes, scored nine points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.



Junior varsity

Fort Recovery scored as many points in the first and fourth quarters as Parkway did in four in getting a 37-12 victory.

The Indians (3-5) raced out to a 12-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. They were ahead 19-6 at half and 25-9 after three quarters as they inched closer to .500.

Cali Wendel led the Indians with 10 points, and Mara Pearson contributed eight points. Kensey Garke chipped in six points while Saige Wendel and Faith Wendel had four points apiece.