One shining moment

FORT RECOVERY — Three Indians were honored for their time served before they took on the Rangers.

All three found ways to contribute to a win in their final game on the Indians’ home floor.

Kensey Gaerke, Saige Leuthold and Cali Wendel combined for 24 points in the Fort Recovery High School girls basketball team’s 46-29 win over the New Knoxville Rangers in the regular season finale Thursday afternoon.

“Awesome way to go out on senior night, being able to get all our seniors in and get them to contribute in big ways,” FRHS coach Tyler Deitsch said. “Whether if that’s emotionally with Kensey and how we started the game, or Cali and Saige being able to get double figures to push the lead where we needed it to and control the tempo.”

The Indians (8-14, 3-6 Midwest Athletic Conference) and the Rangers (3-19, 1-8 MAC) started the game with a truce to trade open baskets to give Gaerke the chance to score one final time. The FRHS senior suffered a knee injury Dec. 2, keeping her out for the second season in a row.

All three seniors contributed to the score as Leuthold tipped the ball to Wendel, who relayed it to Gaerke for the lay-in. Deitsch called timeout after the bucket to let Gaerke take a moment with her teammates and leave the floor to an ovation.

“It was a very special moment and bittersweet, but it felt good to have that chance again,” Gaerke said. “This was the last moment I got with my teammates, so it was hard. … I definitely think it’ll be a good memory.”

While Gaerke got her two points for free, Leuthold had to earn all 10 of hers. Leuthold had to deal with two of the MAC’s best rebounders and shot blockers in Brynn Egbert and Addi Albers.

As of Feb. 7, Egbert was second in blocked shots with 24 – just in front of Leuthold with 20 – and fifth in rebounding with 144 – also one spot in front of Leuthold with 132. Albers co-led the MAC with 176 rebounds as well.

To combat the strong frontline, Leuthold stepped out to hit a pair of threes and another jumper from the short corner. The only basket inside came on a play that Leuthold sealed the fronting Egbert to receive a pass from Karlie Niekamp for a layup.

“I think it was just adrenaline and knowing I should perform tonight, so that helped me stay focused,” Leuthold said. “My game play was just to give it everything because I would never play in this gym again, so I wanted to leave it out on the floor.”

Leuthold paired her 10 points with a game-high nine rebounds, just topping Albers at eight.

Wendel had a strong fourth quarter, scoring seven of her 12 points in the final period. The senior tied with Niekmap for the most points. Albers finished with the most for New Knoxville at 10.

Fort Recovery took advantage of the Rangers at the start of each period. The teams traded baskets in the first to tie at 11 apiece, but dominated the first four minutes of the second, third and fourth.

The Indians outscored the Rangers 27-9 in the first four minutes of all the quarters combined.

“It’s a big thing coming out of breaks,” Deitsch said. “Definitely like to see where we’re at defensively and make adjustments to what we saw over the previous stretch.

“We try to turn that into opportunities for us, whether that’s going after traps or finding certain players to attack. Digging in our heels defensively to stack stops on top of each other is important.”

Deitsch said he wanted his team to limit the Rangers’ penetration. For the most part, the Indians did that in the final three quarters. Of the seven NKHS field goals over that stretch, only two came off of penetration. The other five resulted from two offensive rebounds, two quick jump shots by Avery Albers and an out-of-bounds play.

Fort Recovery rides the victory into the postseason, as it travels to Wayne Trace  on Thursday. The win also secures a tie with Coldwater for seventh place in the MAC, two spots up from last year’s  finish.

“It’s just awesome to see how much the team cares about each other,” Deitsch said. “The emotion they had for Kensey when she hit that bucket, and her coming off the court was a special moment that she’ll definitely remember forever, and I think the rest of the team will as well. I think that fueled a bit of emotion and a spark for the team to go just a bit extra tonight.”