Indians earn first victory

FORT RECOVERY — The Indians couldn’t get their offense going in the season opener. It came alive a little bit in the home opener, but it wasn’t enough to pull out the win.

Cali Wendel provided the offense for them to help the Indians to their first victory Tuesday.

Wendel scored eight of her 22 points and hit two of her six threes in the fourth quarter as the Fort Recovery High School girls basketball team cracked the win column with a 43-38 victory over the Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks.

The Indians (1-2) entered the fourth quarter up 28-26 on the Blackhawks (0-1). Mississinawa Valley’s leading scorer Cora Hoggatt (nine points) put pressure on Fort Recovery by hitting three shots, including a three, in the final period. It wouldn’t matter, as Wendel drained two 3-pointers as well as a two to keep the Indians ahead.

Saige Leuthold, Kennedy Muhlenkamp and Karlie Niekamp also scored in the quarter, each getting one bucket with Muhlenkamp also shooting 1-for-2 on free throws.

Niekamp was the only other player in the game to break double digits with 12 points. Leuthold and Kennedy Muhlenkamp both had three points, while Makenna Huelskamp followed with two and Cameron Muhlenkamp rounded out the scoring with one.

Jay wins third

FOUNTAIN CITY — The Jay County girls basketball team won its third straight game as it took down the host Northeastern Knights 55-48 Tuesday.

Two players reached double digits for Jay County (5-2). Molly Muhlenkamp led the way with a team-high 18 points while Danielle May followed with a career-high 13.

Bella Denton also scored a season-high eight points in the matchup. The rest of the Patriots’ offense came from Hallie Schwieterman (six points), Breanna Dirksen (four), Sophie Saxman (four) and Natalie Carreno (two).

Saxman led Jay County on the boards with 11, and Schwieterman and Muhlenkamp weren’t far behind with nine and eight, respectively.

The junior varsity team fell to the Knights 36-25.

Carreno led Jay County (2-5) with nine points. Alexis Sibray and Raylah Newton both dropped six in the game while Meredith Dirksen and Livia Luzzi each added a basket as well.

JH dominates

The Jay County Junior High School girls basketball teams dominated Driver from Winchester and Bellmont from Decatur on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

The seventh grade team (5-0) toppled Driver 44-4 and completely shut out Bellmont 45-0.

Charlee Peters tallied the most points among all Patriots with 28 between the two games. Karsyn Schwieterman wasn’t far behind with 22.

Other scorers included Kendall Schemenaur with 15, Claudia Dirksen with 12, Alivya Schwieterman with eight and Avery Snow with four.

The eighth graders (4-1) got past Driver 36-20 and clobbered Bellmont 51-1.

Scoring was a lot more balanced for the eighth graders, but leading them was Raylin Hummer who had 15 between the two games. One point behind her was a trio of Patriots — Amelia Heath, Natalie May and Kylie Shannon. The other players in double digits were Elizabeth Brunswick (12) and Gabi Petro (10).

Rounding out the scoring were Lyla Kunkler (six) and Stella Skirvin (two).