Timely triples

MCGUFFEY, Ohio — After trailing for most of the first 24 minutes, the Indians had clawed their way back.

They had taken a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter and looked as if they might be able to fight off Upper Scioto Valley’s two-headed monster.

But a third option emerged.

Andrue Kindle hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to put his team back on top for good and Maddox Underwood connected on all three free throws after being fouled on a triple try of his own. The nine points on three possessions put the Fort Recovery High School boys basketball team in a six-point hole as its season came to an end Wednesday with a 58-45 loss to the host Rams in the Division IV Northwest 4 sectional semifinal.

Kindle’s triples were the final spark on a night during which Upper Scioto Valley got 28 points from junior Maddox Underwood and 20 from senior Alex Sanders.

“They had two guys that we knew that they were going to have everything go through, and they did,” said FRHS coach Bob Leverette. “What can you say, they got hot. We hadn’t seen them get that hot during the season. We knew everything went through them, but we had never seen them get that hot.”

With the victory, the fifth-seeded Rams (15-8) advance to host No. 6 seed New Bremen (10-13) in the sectional championship game at 7 p.m. Friday. (The Cardinals beat No. 4 seed Ridgemont 67-50 in first-round sectional action Wednesday.) The winner will advance to the district tournament at Wapakoneta.

Fort Recovery (6-15) took its first lead since the opening basket when freshman Brody Barga hit two free throws with 17.1 seconds left in the third quarter. The teams traded buckets to a 41-40 Tribe advantage early in the fourth before the Rams got Kindled.

When the sophomore got the ball wide open on the left wing, he initially was going to pass up the shot. (He was scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting at the time.) But his teammates, and some fans, yelled for him to take it. He did, and drained the triple.

A Troy Homan drive on the other end evened the score, but another Kindle triple, this time from the right wing, found the net. Underwood hit three of his dozen free throws on the next trip down the floor for a six-point USV lead.

A Briggs Overman hoop at the 4:21 mark pulled the Indians to within four, but they never scored again. The home team hit 9-of-12 free throws down the stretch to lock up the win.

“We were excited. We had a little chip on our shoulder,” said USVHS coach Dre White, whose team lost 61-50 to Fort Recovery in the tournament last season. “We played these guys last year in the sectional and we had to walk off the floor and watch them cut down a net. …

“They kinda were wearing us down. … We talk about process every time. The guys locked in and we won the fourth quarter 18-6.”

From the field, Underwood did most of his damage from long distance, hitting four 3-pointers including one from the right wing at the first-half buzzer. Sanders, meanwhile, worked the ball into the paint. They both were strong at the foul line, with Underwood shooting 12-of-13 while Sanders was 7-of-10.

Rex Leverette, Bob’s son, was the lone Indian in double figures, scoring eight of his dozen points in the third quarter. He also had a game-high 12 rebounds.

Homan, Overman and Barga each added eight points.

The game marked the end of the high school careers of Gavin Faller, Alex Dues, Reece Guggenbiller, Leverette and Homan.

“Just a tough way to end the year,” said Leverette.

“I’m more upset that I don’t get to be with this group of kids anymore. A great group of seniors. I’ve had them since the third grade,” he continued, choking back emotion. “Great role models for our younger guys coming in.

“I’m just super proud of them. Not the season we wanted wins and losses wise. But you know what, we had fun, we competed and that’s all I can ask.”