Fort Loramie and Fort Recovery on collision course?
By Tim Langevin
They say revenge is a possible motive. Even though no crime was committed, New Bremen fell victim to Fort Recovery’s sagging, zone defense and Greg Kahlig’s killer offensive moves.
After backing into the boys MAC championship with a three point loss to the Cardinals February 26, the Indians settled the score with a methodical 44-32 win Friday in the district finals at Wapakoneta High School.
Fort Recovery (20-3) advances to the regional semifinals at Fairmont’s Trent Arena where they will face Lockland (15-9) Tuesday in a 6:15 PM. tip-off. The Panthers defeated Franklin Monroe 59-36 in the other district final at UD Arena.
Kahlig set the tone early with a three-pointer from the corner for a 3-0 lead 25 seconds into the game. The senior standout scored again slashing between three defenders in the paint to give his team a 7-2 lead. The two-time POY wasn’t finished. He bombed back-to-back threes from the perimeter and Fort Recovery jumped out on top 13-3 with 3:33 left in the opening stanza.
The 6′ 5″ guard scored 11 points in the quarter and finished the night with a game high 21 points. He was 6-of-10 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. He added six rebounds and three blocks to his game resume.
Despite all the scoring records, a MAC Co-Title, and countless, stellar performances during his varsity career, Kahlig hinted at more, “This is awesome. I haven’t been to the regionals before. We are one step closer, but still have four steps to go.” Sounds like the poetic phrase, “miles to go before I sleep.”
New Bremen fought back behind Justin Eilerman’s seven points in the second quarter. The big guy opened with a nifty 10-foot jump hook, split two foul shots, nailed a baseline 15-footer, and capped it with a tap in off a missed fast break lay up.
The Cardinals sliced Fort Recovery’s 10-point lead 23-18, but then Cody Fiely was fouled on a three-point attempt. He flushed all three foul shots and the Indians stretched the lead 26-18 at the break. “We were focused the entire game. We were ready to go,” Fiely said. “The last time we met, we didn’t finish it at the end. This time we did.”
Fiely ended the game with nine points and three assists.
The third quarter was a lesson in patience as Fort Recovery worked the clock 30-40 seconds each possession, out-pointing New Bremen 7-6 for a comfortable 33-24 lead heading into the final quarter.
The points were shared between Michael Gaerke’s floater down the lane, a deep three in the corner by Craig Tobe, and a Kahlig drive in the paint. Gaerke only scored two points, but came up big on defense with four steals and three defensive rebounds.
The storyline of this game was New Bremen’s inability to sustain any serious scoring runs. The Cards manufactured a 7-0 run to end the third and start the fourth quarter, but that was it. The most points in succession was four. Meanwhile, Fort Recovery started the game with a 13-3 run, a 10-2 run in the middle, and a 8-3 spurt to end the game.
The closest New Bremen would get was 33-27 early in the fourth quarter on a Clay Heitkamp three from the perimeter. The biggest Fort Recovery margin was 43-30 after Kahlig converted two free throws with 1:20 left in the contest.
Like Kahlig, Recovery coach Brian Patch was pleased, but not totally satisfied, “Defensively, we took away their high-low post play and offensively, we attacked the basket. The kids stepped up and executed the game plan. We didn’t turn the ball over and we hit our foul shots. We still have a ways to go.”
Tobe scored eight points on 2-of-3 shooting from three-point-land. Freshman Wade Gelhaus, poised beyond his years, scored four points and delivered on defense.
Eilerman was the only New Bremen player in double figures with 13 points. Williams added six points and Marcus Bergman and Heitkamp each tallied five points.
Fort recovery was 12-of-22 from the field for 54 percent, including 5-of-10 from three-point range, while New Bremen struggled, shooting 32 percent from the field and 54 percent from the foul line.
Both teams turned the ball over 12 times and the Indians owned the rebound edge 18-15.
New Bremen’s 10 game win streak comes to an end as they finish the 2009-2010 campaign with a 19-4 record.
More News and Notes
In other tournament play Friday evening, Fort Loramie soundly defeated Cincinnati Seven Hills 58-37. Cody Albers paced Loramie’s balanced attack with 19 points. The junior point guard connected on 6-of-8 field goals, including 2-of-3 behind the arc. Mark Frilling added 14 points with 13 rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and one steal.
The Stingers finish the season 20-3. The Redskins have won eight straight and take a 17-6 mark into the regional semifinals at Trent Arena Tuesday at 8:00 PM. They will square off against DIV power Dayton Jefferson and Adriean Payne. The Broncos defeated Lehman Catholic 76-41 in the other district final.
And so, sports rockers, the MAC and SCL schools continue to dominate the boys and girls tournament. Maybe west central Ohio is the new hotbed of high school basketball. In all, six teams have advanced to the regionals–Versailles in DIII girls, Minster in DIV girls, Fort Recovery in DIV boys, Anna in DIII boys, and Fort Loramie in DIV boys and girls. Not bad considering all these teams are public schools with no recruiting violations.
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