First in seven years

TROY, Ohio — Jaxon Woods posed a significant threat to the Tribe’s odds at a postseason run.

A key offensive foul forced the Pirate forward to take a backseat in the third quarter.

With Woods not posing a threat, the Indians were able to utilize a 1-3-1 zone to force turnovers, get out in transition and build enough of a lead to carry them the distance.

The sixth-seeded Fort Recovery High School basketball team punched its ticket to the district finals for the first time since 2017 by beating the No. 5 seed Riverside Pirates 45-37 in the OHSAA Division VI Southwest 1 District opener on Wednesday at Troy.

The win snaps a seven-year drought of failing to reach the district finals. The Tribe (8-16) last reached the district final in 2017, when it fell to the top-seeded Perry 54-45. Fort Recovery is now slated to face the second-seeded Anna Rockets (14-10) at Troy on Saturday at 11 a.m.

“It’s been a long time coming but it feels great,” said FRHS coach Bob Leverette. “This was one of our goals to start the season and now we get to play for it. Those kids could have quit, 6-16 season. They believed in what we were selling them. Ended the season pretty tough against a couple good teams. They didn’t take too much away from that, stayed focused and now they get to play for a district title.” 

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Fort Recovery boys basketball at district opener vs. Riverside (2/26/2025)

Through the first half, Woods scored 10 points on 4-of-6 from the field. He had two of the five first-quarter points before picking up a second foul on a charge. He sat the final two minutes of the first before coming back in the second to score seven more points, giving RHS a 19-16 advantage at the half.

The Indians (8-16) scored the first bucket of the second half as Briggs Overman took the ball coast-to-coast for a three-point play that tied the game. On the following play, Woods picked up his third foul as he tried to set a screen on Grant Fortkamp near the volleyball line. Saddled with his third foul, Woods — who finished as the game’s leading scorer with 21 points —  was forced to be less aggressive on offense.

“It was just huge for momentum," Leverette said. “You could feel it out of our bench and the players on the floor. It was very big and probably the deciding factor in the game.”

The Indians then flipped from their man-to-man defense to guard the Pirates (8-16) in a 1-3-1 zone. Without having to worry about Woods attacking the rim as relentlessly, the zone was able to cause chaos by either forcing a turnover or eliciting a quick contested shot inside the arc.

“That (1-3-1) we run really locks them down,” said Fortkamp, who plays the top position of the zone. “When we can get Breaker (Jutte) and Brody (Barga) on the wings with their long arms, getting them in the corner, most teams freak out. We were able to freak them out a little bit and slow them down.”

The stops led to FRHS getting out in transition, where it scored nine unanswered for an 11-0 run. Gavin Evers scored two points off of free throws and Overman split a pair of free throws as well. The other six points came from Fortkamp on a backcourt bucket when Jutte stole an inbound pass and shuffled it off to the guard, a triple on an Evers assist and split a pair of free throws after Post dove on a defensive rebound near midcourt and flipped the ball over his head to Fortkamp.

After the Indians built a nine-point lead, Riverside ended the period on a 5-2 run, but the damage was done. Fort Recovery extended its lead to 14 after scoring the first three baskets of the final period on a Barga post move and back-to-back three-point plays by Overman and Fortkamp.

Evers finished as Fort Recovery’s offensive leader with 12 points. He shot a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line and the field.

“You’ve just got to trust your guys are going to get you the ball,” said Evers, who put up six in the first half. “And then when you get the ball you’ve got to score.”

Overman followed with 11 points, while Fortkamp contributed nine and Barga had eight.

The Tribe will have to get through Anna to make it back to the regional for the first time since 2010, when it fell to Jefferson Township in the regional final. For now, the Indians are just enjoying their tournament success.

“We’re fired up,” Fortkamp said. “In the locker room, we were screaming. Oh, it was awesome.”