Jays edge Indians

FORT RECOVERY - Fort Recovery led Delphos St. John's for the majority of three quarters. That lead, however, didn't last in the fourth.

Delphos St. John's stayed close throughout and made the plays - and free throws - to hold off the Indians for a 48-45 victory on Friday night in Midwest Athletic Conference play at Fort Site Fieldhouse.

"We played hard, but they hit some big shots," Fort Recovery coach Mike Bashore said. "They hit some threes in the fourth quarter and we didn't. That's basically what it came down to."

It was the first loss of the season for Fort Recovery (3-1, 0-1 MAC).

St. John's (2-2, 1-1 MAC) rebounded from back-to-back losses to Versailles and Elida last weekend.

Jared Wurst canned two unanswered triples to start the game. The Indians followed with a 13-0 run. Cade Wendel had six points with a three and an and-1, Payton Jutte had four points and Ryan Braun added a trey. Wurst finally stopped the run with his third trey of the quarter, and the Blue Jays trailed 13-9 after one.

St. John's tied the score at 16-all midway through the second on a three-pointer by Connor Hulihan. But Jutte closed the quarter in style, adding five more points to send the Indians in front 22-16 at the intermission.

The teams went scoreless for more than three minutes out of the locker room. Jutte broke the draught by driving right and switching back to his left for a layup at the 4:40 mark. The Blue Jays ended up outscoring the Indians 8-7 in the frame and trailed 29-24 at the end of the quarter.

Wurst had been held scoreless for the two quarters following his big first, but he erupted again in the fourth. He scored eight points early in the fourth - with a pair at the line, a hoop-and-harm three-point play and a triple - to put St. John's in front with six minutes to play. Jutte hit a turnaround jumper on the next trip down, but it was the last time the Indians led.

Hulihan knocked down a three and Grant Csukker drew a pushing foul while setting a screen. Csukker knocked down both free throws to send St. John's ahead 39-35.   

"They had a five-point play on the one trip down," Bashore said. "They make a three and a guy gets fouled when we're trying to run through a screen. We got out there a little bit late. That was a big swing."

Fort Recovery later had a chance to take the lead but missed the go-ahead three. St. John's continued to make its free throws to keep its distance. The Indians had a chance to tie after a pair of missed free throws but the three-point attempt at the buzzer didn't draw iron.

"We've got to do a better job of running our stuff when pressure gets a little tight on us," Bashore said. "I think we got rattled a little bit. That's a credit to their coach. He's one of the best coaches in the MAC. He's well prepared defensively. He knows what you're going to do. Hats off to the Delphos kids. They played really hard. … But we still gave up only 48 points and we will take that. We just couldn't put the ball in the basket tonight."

Jutte scored 12 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter. Wendel finished with 12 points.

Wurst had nine of his team-high 20 points in the fourth. The Blue Jays connected on 14-of-20 free throws in the fourth.

Fort Recovery hosts Jay County tonight.

St. John's hosts Van Wert next Friday.