FTs finish 1st W

FORT RECOVERY — The Indians weren’t having much success cashing in on free-throw opportunities.

They had missed three opportunities to convert three-point plays. With a chance to seal the game, Gavin Evers was off the mark on two foul shots.

When the opportunity for redemption came, he was ready.

Evers snagged the rebound off of a Xavier Samples missed 3-point attempt that would have tied the game and then returned to the line to cash in two free throws and seal the Fort Recovery High School boys basketball team’s first win of the season — 53-48 over the Parkway Panthers.

“It felt good,” said Evers, who added that he had two words — “don’t miss” — running through his mind as he stepped to the line in the closing moments. “You’ve just got to trust in yourself.”

Parkway (2-5, 0-2 Midwest Athletic Conference) held a slim lead for about a nine-minute stretch of the second half but the game began to turn when a pass slipped through the fingers of Wyatt Carpenter and out of bounds with just over four minutes to go. Colson Post then buried a game-tying 3-pointer for the Indians (1-3, 1-0 MAC) on the other end. 

The visitors reclaimed the advantage on a 3-pointer of their own with 3:15 left, but they never scored again. Breaker Jutte’s back-door basket off of an assist from Briggs Overman gave FRHS the lead for good with 2:31 on the clock, and Jutte added a pair of free throws just over a minute later.

There was a chance for the Panthers to pull even after Evers missed his foul shots with 29 seconds left, but Samples was off the mark on a potential game-tying 3-pointer. 

Evers pulled in the rebound and hit his foul shots to finish off an 8-0, game-ending run for Fort Recovery.

“It was a great team effort,” said FRHS coach Bob Leverette, whose team opened with consecutive road losses to Jay County, Fort Loramie and Bradford. “I’m just super proud of our guys. They’ve been grinding. So, yeah, just super happy.”

Brody Barga was big in the paint for the Indians, especially early, as he grabbed eight of his game-high 15 rebounds in the opening quarter. He also scored a team-best 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

He led an efficient effort overall for Fort Recovery’s offense, which shot 52.5% from the field. Grant Fortkamp, who did all of his scoring in the first half, and Jutte followed Barga with 10 points apiece.

“There were a lot of easy baskets Fort Recovery got,” said PHS coach Doug Hughes. “It didn’t matter if they were out of bounds, it didn’t matter if we lost our man. It was not a good defensive effort at all by Parkway.”

The Panthers closed the gap quickly after falling behind 10-2 in the first three minutes and the game went back-and-forth the rest of the way. Fort Recovery was up by one at the half, then trailed by two heading into the final quarter.

Trevor Stearns scored most of his game-high 17 points for Parkway in the paint while adding six rebounds and three assists. 

Samples and Jacob Bruns added 11 points each.

Junior varsity

Fort Recovery held on for a 43-40 victory as a couple of 3-point tries by the Panthers missed in the final five seconds.

The game went back and forth, with the Indians trailing by two after the first quarter but taking a two-point lead into halftime. They fell behind by two with a period of play before reclaiming the advantage and then barely avoiding overtime.

Hudson Overman was the lone Indian to finish in double figures, scoring six of his team-best 11 points in the final period. 

Doug Bihn was next with eight points, while Braylon Dilworth scored seven and Brady Evers finished with six.