St. Henry secures piece of MAC title

ST. HENRY - Fort Recovery had St. Henry backed into a corner Friday night.

Fortunately for the Redskins, the corner is a place Evan Prenger likes to be.

The senior hit two three-pointers from the corner - including the game-tying trey with 20 seconds left - to help the Redskins erase a five-point deficit with under 1:30 to play in the fourth quarter.

Ryan Mikesell sunk the game-winning free throw with five seconds to go and the Redskins clinched at least a share of the Midwest Athletic Conference title with a 54-53 win at Redskin Gymnasium. St. Henry travels to Coldwater next Friday for a chance at its first outright league title since 1995.

"We're very happy," said Prenger, who finished with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting. "They're a great team. They came out and played us very, very well. It was real nice to come out with a win."

Had it not been for the comeback in crunch time, the Indians' Kyle Schroer would have been the hero.

Fort Recovery trailed 39-31 midway through the third quarter before embarking on a 13-0 run to gain a 44-39 advantage early in the fourth. The run was spearheaded by Caleb Martin, who had two buckets and assisted Micaiah Cox for an easy layup to bring the Tribe within two points entering the final period. Cox opened the final eight minutes with a go-ahead three-pointer and Martin finished the run with a jumper.

"Early in the third quarter, we had a couple silly turnovers that caused that lead to get a little bit bigger than we wanted it," Fort Recovery coach Chris Guggenbiller said. "From there, all we did was tighten down a little bit. I called a timeout there and told Speedy (point guard Brandon Schoen) that we needed to start taking care of the ball better than what we're doing. We need to get it into that high post area and attack off that high post. We started doing that.

"We played good defense all throughout the game. In that span there, we just continued to play solid defense, especially on Mikesell. Our thinking was we're going to harass him. We're going to bug him the whole entire game and work on him and get him a little fatigued."

Mikesell snapped St. Henry out of its scoring drought with a bucket in traffic at the 4:55 mark. Caleb Bender's layup with a minute and a half later drew the Redskins within a point, setting up the fight to the finish.

Mikesell split a pair of defenders and threw down a one-handed dunk to tie the game at 47-all with 2:30 left. Schroer put his team right back in front by slashing through the paint and scoring shortly after. Then Darien Sheffer found the junior guard for a three on the next trip down the floor and the Tribe led 52-47 with 1:25 remaining.

"With the type of defense they play, where they're out really denying the ball, that's a game where Kyle Schroer (can really be effective)," Guggenbiller said. "He's a slasher-type guy who can really come out and be effective, because he thrives on getting that backdoor play, getting those things going to the cup. He came up big hitting a couple of shots at the end, hitting a free throw to maintain our lead."

Prenger came to the rescue in the final quarter for the second time in the last month. On Jan. 23, Prenger scored 20 points, 10 in the final quarter, in a come-from-behind win over Marion Local.

"We haven't had a big game in a while, so to come out in an atmosphere like this, where they're pushing us and making us work for everything we get, we just have to work harder," Prenger said.

"Evan Prenger does things right," St. Henry coach Eric Rosenbeck said. "You'd be really hard-pressed to find anyone who has watched him play that doesn't like his game. He doesn't complain. He doesn't moan. He doesn't whine. He sits in his stance on defense and he plays. Offensively, he does his job, which is why I love coaching him. The fact that he's a good basketball player is just a bonus."

Without Fort Recovery's foul in the final seconds, though, the game might have went into overtime. After the Indians missed the game-winning shot attempt, Mikesell was fouled on the rebound and went to the free throw line. He made 1-of-2 and the Indians' desperation heave came after the final buzzer had sounded.

"It's a rivalry game. It's cliche to say throw out the records, but cliches are created normally because there's truth behind them. In this situation, throw out the records," St. Henry coach Eric Rosenbeck said. "Fort Recovery players and coaching staff deserve an unbelievable amount of credit. They had a great gameplan. The pulled Mikesell away from the hoop. He had zero blocks in the game. We didn't adjust quite as strongly as we would have liked.

"In the end, our kids also deserve a lot of credit for the way they responded to that fantastic effort from our opponent."

Four Fort Recovery players finished in double figures, led by Cox's 14 points. Chase Bruns, Schroer and Martin pitched in 10 points each for the Indians, who had their two-game winning streak snapped.

"What you saw tonight is showing how well we've been playing of late," Guggenbiller said. "That's pretty similar to how we've been playing these past couple of weekends. We're starting to shoot the ball better. We're playing with a whole lot more confidence and we're taking care of the basketball.

"Our goal was to play our best basketball at this time of the year and we're doing that."

Mikesell finished with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting to go with 11 rebounds. The Redskins made 14-of-17 free throw attempts, including 13-of-14 in the first half when they went to the bonus in the opening quarter.

"We practice it every day, but we have not been in a game like that all year. It took until game 20 to get to a game like that," Rosenbeck said. "No matter how it turned out, it was a great learning experience for us, because if we're going to try to do anything in the tournament, there's going to be games like that.

"Congratulations goes out to our seniors. To get two MAC titles in the last three years is fantastic."

Both teams are back in action tonight. Fort Recovery hosts Ansonia and St. Henry hosts Van Wert.