On the line

FORT RECOVERY — Gradin Swoveland knocked down one of two free throws to pull the Patriots within one point with 1 minute, 12 seconds remaining.

It was the last point they would score.

Through the final minute, Reece Guggenbiller and Rex Leverette pulled down rebounds, marched to the other end of the floor and nailed free throws to put the Patriots on ice.

The Fort Recovery High School boys basketball team knocked down eight of its 14 fourth-quarter free throws, including five in the final minute to hold off the Jay County Patriots and win its season opener 38-31 Saturday night.

“It's always a slugfest anytime you go against Jerry's 1-2-2,” FRHS coach Bob Leverette said. “You’ve got to hit shots, you have to be patient and take care of the ball. …

“This was the opener for us. We didn’t finish real strong in the scrimmage season, so we had some major question marks. To win that and show that grit, that’s huge for us. That shows our character.”

The Indians (1-0) entered the fourth quarter leading by only one point after Jackson Edwards nailed a buzzer-beating three for Jay County (2-2). The teams traded buckets before Fort Recovery built a six-point lead on a score from Rex Leverette off of a baseline inbound and a corner three by Alex Dues.

Jay County battled back as Parker Nichols crossed over and lost his man for a pull-up jumper and Ben Crouch found success twice off the drive before Swoveland hit his free throw.

Guggenbiller came down with the rebound off of Swoveland’s missed free throw and was fouled by Liam Garringer, who picked up his fifth with 1:10 left. Guggenbiller knocked both foul shots down to make it a two-possession game.

“Our assistant coach (Toby) Metzger on the bench, he always has a saying for us – ‘Stay calm. Life’s good,’” Guggenbiller said. “I just followed and thought about that. I just calmed down, took a deep breath and hit them.”

Then, the Patriots went silent from the field.

Three-point attempts from Nichols, Edwards and Levi Muhlenkamp all came up empty in the closing minutes.

Jay County fouled Guggnbiller again with less than 30 seconds and the senior hit another pair to make it 37-31. After another empty possession and subsequent foul, Guggenbiller missed both free throws, but it didn’t hurt the Indians, as the Patriots missed another three with Rex Leverette making the trip to the charity stripe.

He missed the first before draining the second to reach Fort Recovery’s final score. By then it was too late, as the Patriots advanced the ball and took a final shot from the corner that missed the mark ending the game.

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Four of the Patriots’ five starters struggled offensively, as Westly Bihn, Trevin Dunnington, Garringer and Swoveland finished with a combined 4 points on 1-for-18 from the floor.

“I'm disappointed that at critical times where we needed a play made, we never really got it,” Jay County coach Jerry Bomholt said. “We have a very small margin of error, because we don't have the dominant player.”

The Patriots started the game off well, holding the Indians scoreless until 2:44 in the first quarter when Troy Homan went coast to coast off of a steal. Nichols led Jay County early on, hitting the first to shots of the game and scoring eight of the 10 JCHS points.

Nichols had 10 points to lead Jay County as no one else could break double-digits.

The momentum flipped in the second quarter when Fort Recovery moved into a 3-2 zone, bothering the Patriots enough to hold them scoreless.

At the same time, Fort Recovery started to dial in from distance. Biggs Overman broke the seal before Guggenbiller sunk back-go-back threes, all of which were assisted on by Homan.

Bob Leverette saw the success as a self-feeding cycle where the offense and defense were feeding off of each other.

“Briggs Overman hit a huge, deep three for us early on in the second quarter early on and that got our defense going,” he said. “Once we got it close, then we made some huge stops down that second quarter.”

Guggenbiller was Fort Recovery’s leading scorer with 12 points on 2-for-4 shooting behind the arc and 6-for-8 at the line. It also got some big contributions from its front court in Rex Leverette and Gavin Faller. The former ripped down 11 rebounds, put up six points and dished two assists to the latter in some high-low action.

Faller had eight points, six of which came in the third quarter. The senior who hadn’t played for the last three years accredited the early success to the chemistry he’s built with Rex Leverette and the other players early in the pre-season.

Another bright spot for Jay County came in the form of Muhlenkamp off the bench. The junior scored a career-high eight points, including consecutive 3-pointers in the third quarter that snapped an 18-0 Indians run.

Beyond Nichols, Muhlenkamp and Crouch, Jay County didn’t get a lot offensively, and Bomholt will be looking for ways to fix that before they travel to New Castle on Saturday.

“I’ve seen certain things that good, solid high school basketball players don’t do in certain situations,” Bomholt said. “It’s just been really, really inconsistent play and we’ve got to get that corrected or it’s going to be a long season.

“We’ve just got to do a better job. That’s all there is to it.”

Junior varsity

In a higher-scoring game, the Jay County junior varsity team took down Fort Recovery 43-38.

Carter Fugiett was on fire from 3-point range, splashing in six triples, three in the first quarter. He finished with a game-high 19 points. Jayden Comer added two threes as well, as he finished with eight points for the Patriots (4-0).

Breaker Jutte scored 14 for the Indians. The freshman knocked down three free throws, one three and four 2-pointers. He had seven of the Indians’ 12 fourth-quarter points.

Freshman

Grant Fortkamp and Brody Barga led Fort Recovery to a 49-34 win in the freshman game.

Fortkamp led with 15 points, while Barga added 10.

Jay County’s leader was Brock Wasson, who had a strong third quarter. The freshman scored 10 of his 16 points in the third period alone.