Tribe D dominates Starfires

FORT RECOVERY — The Indians’ defense was too much for the Starfires.

And once the visitors found their groove, the hosts already had an insurmountable advantage.

Fort Recovery High School’s girls basketball team allowed just six points on two field goals in the first half on its way to a 51-25 victory over the South Adams Starfires on Tuesday at Fort Site Fieldhouse.

“I thought the girls came out and they were ready to get going in a game that started an hour, hour and a half earlier than normal,” said FRHS coach Holly Gann, noting the fact there was no junior varsity contest. “Kind of a different type of warm up.

“I thought the girls executed well. Defensively we knew we could put a struggle on what they do a little bit.”

South Adams coach Brett Freeman, whose team has lost three in a row and six of its last nine games, said the offensive woes were no surprise.

“These last few games we’ve been struggling,” Freeman said. “Struggling to get some shots. With (second-leading scorer Peyton Pries) not out there tonight it obviously makes a difference of how we played and what we could do.

“They’re a strong team starting five seniors. We’re awfully young so it was a big wakeup call.”

South Adams (6-11) was just 1-of-10 from the field in the first half, which allowed Fort Recovery (11-4) to race out to a 21-4 lead at the break. The Tribe ended the first period on a 10-0 run, and scored the first two points of the second.

The Starfires’ only points of the second quarter came on a right side drive from Kristen Wynn — the junior’s only two points of the game — which stopped a span of nearly eight scoreless minutes for South Adams.

Wynn’s bucket made it 23-6, and then the Indians closed the half with eight more points, six of which came from freshman Mara Pearson.

“She’s an athlete,” Gann said of Pearson, who scored all eight of her points in the second quarter. “Even though she hits the varsity floor she’s still learning. The best thing we can do for Mara is continue to get her those minutes so that she can learn and grow.

“Athletically she can always play, but basketball knowledge will come with more time.”

South Adams was just 1-for-6 from the field in the second quarter and went into halftime down 31-6 and shooting just 12.5% (2-for-16).

“The last three games have been against really good defensive teams,” Freeman said. The Starfires have been outscored 142-63 in losses to Adams Central, Bluffton and Fort Recovery. “We’ve been struggling with our shots, this and that. First half was a struggle. We had some good drives by Macy (Pries). She was getting to the basket, she just wasn’t finishing anything.

“Makes it difficult when you can’t put the ball through the hoop.”

Fort Recovery gave way to its reserve players more in the second half, and that allowed South Adams to make the final score a little more respectable. The Starfires scored 12 straight points, including eight from Macy Pries, in the fourth quarter.

Pries, who leads the team in scoring with 15.3 points per game, had just two at halftime but found her shot in the second half. She finished with 15 points, nine of which came during the fourth quarter.

“She really battled for 32 minutes,” Freeman said. “I thought she gave everything she had every play.”

Peyton Pries, who is second for the Starfires with 13.5 points per game, was in uniform but had a brace on her right wrist and did not play.

Alli Vaughn scored 13 points to lead Fort Recovery, and Paige Fortkamp added 11 points to go with her team-high eight rebounds.

Gann said she was happy to get a bit of a reprieve from the Midwest Athletic Conference schedule before hosting the Tribe’s rival to the east, St. Henry, on Thursday.

“I think right now it’s important we can get one like this because of our legs,” she said. “We’re just trying to save our bodies. All the girls got to play tonight.”