Flyers maneuver past Indians

FORT RECOVERY — The Indians led in a low-scoring affair at halftime.

They had already lost to the Flyers earlier in the season and knew that it would be difficult to maintain the lead.

As the Flyers’ shots started to fall, so did the Indians’ odds of pulling off the upset.

The Division IV No. 9 Marion Local Flyers got a lock on the hoop, hitting 10 of their 15 field goals in the second half to maneuver past the Fort Recovery High School girls basketball team Thursday, 36-29.

The Indians previously lost to the Flyers on Dec. 28 in a low-scoring game 39-36. That close loss came before starting guard Kennedy Muhlenkamp was knocked out of the lineup because of an injury.

In another defensive-focused game, Fort Recovery (5-11, 2-4 Midwest Athletic Conference) held a 12-11 lead after two quarters, but three straight Flyers’ baskets took it away to start the third quarter.

Mya Eckstein opened the half with a jump shot to gain a one-point lead on the Indians. Forty seconds later, Avae Unrast scored off of a give-and-go with Allison Dirksen. Unrast assisted Dirksen on a hammer play the next time down the floor to give Marion Local (12-5, 5-2 MAC) some padding and secure its lead.

“In the second half, we wanted to use our defensive pressure to create some offense for us,” MLHS coach Beth Steib said. “I thought we did a pretty good job of that.

“We shot a little more confidently. Once you hit a few baskets, it's a lot easier to shoot, and that definitely opened up some things for us in the second half.”

Marion Local slowly added to its lead in the fourth, reaching a height of 10 points after Nora Eckstein tallied a three-point play by curling to the rim during a sideline-out-of-bounds play and hitting the ensuing free throw.

The Indians couldn’t spark their offense to life enough to mount a full comeback despite finishing on a 5-2 run. Both of the MLHS points came on bonus free throws, while Sophia Guggenbiller split a pair of foul shots and Karlie Niekamp put in two buckets off of offensive rebounds.

While it slipped a little in the second half, the Indians’ defense stifled the Flyers in the first half. Marion Local couldn’t find the hoop until a drive by Unrast went down with three minutes left in the first quarter. Mya Eckstein succeeded on a post up, for the only other made basket by Marion Local. Along with only two made baskets, the Flyers committed five first-quarter turnovers.

They didn’t do much better in the second quarter hitting three shots, while turning the ball over five more times.

“That’s a good team,” Fort Recovery coach Tyler Deitsch said, noting the Flyers’ state ranking. “For us to be able to play defense the way we did tonight kind of sets what our identity is in the team, and hopefully it can lead to more offense than it did tonight.

“Defensively, I couldn’t be more proud of the way the girls responded to some of the things we threw in this week, whether that was just kind of changing up some of our defenses, being able to alternate through a lot of different defenses to try to keep them off balance.”

Freshman Makenna Huelskamp ended as the leading scorer for the struggling Fort Recovery offense. She tied Unrast with a game-high 12 points.

In the first half, Huelskamp had six of the Indians’ 12 points. 

She opened the game on a drive down the left lane line for a layup and soon after got a bucket in transition with Cali Wendel stealing the ball and providing the assist. With 1:20 left in the second period, Huelskamp hit her third shot — a baseline jumper that she got off after dropping Unrast with a pull-back dribble.

She also cut into the Flyers’ lead in the third quarter, scoring six of Fort Recovery’s seven points. 

“Those full-court 1-3-1 presses are pretty tough,” Deitsch said. “We figured it out late, but it definitely slowed us down and didn’t let us get into our groove that we normally do. Especially in the first half, Makenna was played pretty fast and that was really what was working for us.”

Turnovers also caused a problem for Fort Recovery, which coughed up the ball 22 times. Between the turnovers and shooting 30% (9-of-30) from the field, FRHS couldn’t find enough offensive rhythm to complement its defense.

Despite the outcome, Deitsch was happy with how the defense performed and the effort his team gave.

“I’m proud of how the girls played hard, especially after coming off our last two losses,” Deitsch said. “After playing the way we did in our last couple of losses, it could be really easy to get into a slide where things don’t look pretty.

“That’s not how we came and played today. Especially defensively, we played awesome against a really good team. … We’re proud of the way our girls fight and never back down for their town.”

Junior varsity

Fort Recovery couldn’t keep up as the Flyers flew out to a 40-27 victory.

Hannah Rindler posted eight points in the first to single-handedly outscore the Indians as Marion Local built an 18-5 lead.

The Flyers took the second quarter by two points, while Fort Recovery won both second-half periods by one point each.

Bridget Homan’s nine points led , while Kiley Schoenlein powered Marion Local with 13.