Streak ends in finale

FORT RECOVERY — The Indians had won four in a row.

They will have to start a new streak in the tournament.

Fort Recovery High School’s boys basketball team fell behind early Friday and couldn’t keep up with the visiting New Bremen Cardinals as it closed the season with a 57-44 defeat.

The Indians (13-9, 4-5 Midwest Athletic Conference) fell behind by six at the end of the first quarter and trailed 24-13 at halftime. They picked up their scoring in the second half, but so did New Bremen (15-7, 7-2 MAC) as the final margin expanded to 13 points.

Junior Aaron Thieman scored nine of his team-high 21 points for the Cardinals in the fourth quarter. Evan Eyink followed with eight points.

Cale Rammel had a game-high 23 points for Fort Recovery, scoring at least four points in every quarter. Landon Post added nine points and Rex Leverette had seven.

The Tribe will open tournament play Tuesday when it plays New Knoxville in the opening round of the sectional tournament at approximately 7:30 p.m. at St. Marys. FRHS, the No. 5 seed in the district, won the regular-season meeting, 56-29. A victory would send the squad to the sectional championship at 7:30 p.m. Friday against third-seeded Upper Scioto Valley.

Fort Recovery got outscored 34-18 in the middle quarters of the junior varsity contest, falling 63-51 to the Cardinals. Three players reached double figures for the Tribe, with Gavin Evers scoring 14 points and Alex Gaerke and Mason Diller adding 12 and 11, respectively

The Indians struggled after the opening quarter of the freshman game in a 59-35 loss to New Bremen. Doug Bihn led the Indians with 11 points, and Reece LeFevre added nine.