Group effort

Cale Rammel was a workhorse for the Indians.

He did everything. He scored, rebounded, assisted and defended.

His graduation will force others to step up and a collective effort for the Indians to be successful.

Fort Recovery High School’s  boys basketball coach Bob Leverette will look to his group of seven seniors to replace Rammel’s production for the 2023-34 season.

“We’ve got five seniors, four of them are letter winners, two were starters and they’re just a good blue color group of kids,” Leverette said. “They've had success on every level so far. So I’m excited about having them come in.”

Leverette will need that group to step up to replace Rammel. The 2023 graduate led FRHS in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks and steals last year. He averaged 23.2 points — 42.2% of Fort Recovery’s scoring.

“We’ll have to figure out how to score as a team,” Leverette said. “We don’t necessarily have a kid that can go get 23 a game, but we can have four or five guys get (10 plus) points, which will make up for that.

“It’s a big void to fill, but I think we’ll be fine. It’s a different style of ball than we played last year but I think it will resonate with the community.”

Along with Rammel, the Indians graduated Landon Post and Daniel Patch as well, and Riggs Tobe did not come out this season after suffering an injury early in the football season. 

They combined for 15.7 points per game, meaning Fort Recovery lost 70.7% of its scoring from last season when it finished 15-10 and was seventh in the Midwest Athletic Conference.

The seven returners from last season are Alex Dues, Gavin Evers, Reece Guggenbiller, Troy Homan, Eli Lennartz, Rex Leverette and Briggs Overman. Homan and Rex Leverette boast the most experience of the group, having been starters during the 2022-23 campaign, but the latter is the only returning player who scored more than three points per game.

Add in senior Gavin Faller to the mix and Bob Leverette has what he roughly expects to be his main rotation. 

Despite not playing since middle school, Bob Leverette expects Faller to be a key addition to the team.

“I look for Faller to do big things for us,” he said. “I think people will really be surprised, for not playing the last three years, how good he really is going to be for us.”

For now, he expects Homan (guard) and Rex Leverette (forward) to reprise their roles as starters and be joined by the other three seniors, Guggenbiller (guard), Dues (forward) and Faller (forward).

While the offensive end will be a work in progress, the Indians’ defense can take a jump this year with the versatility of their rotation. 

Last season, Fort Recovery had the second-best scoring defense in the MAC behind Marion Local, which edged past Fort Recovery 35-34 in the district opener.

“I think we'll be better defensively because of our style of defense with the kids being able to kind of be cookie cutter type players all the way across the board,” Bob Leverette said. “So, we lose that size, that muscle per se, but I think overall, we're probably longer and lengthier.”

The Indians will rely on their defensive prowess, and if the offense starts to come along, then Bob Leverette thinks they can reach the level they were at last year while improving their overall record.

“Hopefully it's better than last year,” he said. “I think we can win two or three more games and win another sectional. I think that's a great year for us. I think that's realistic. And if we go further then, wow, that's fun.”