Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023
Indians pull away from Rangers
By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Zachary Hesse/The Daily Standard
Fort Recovery's Cale Rammel slams dunks the ball off an alley-oop pass from Landon Post (0) during the first quarter of Tuesday's sectional game with New Knoxville at St. Marys' Grand Lake Health Systems Court.
ST. MARYS - For 1 1/2 quarters, New Knoxville and Fort Recovery were battling back and forth.
The Rangers continued to battle, but the Indians used a 13-0 run in the second quarter to pull away and pick up a 57-30 victory in the Division IV boys basketball sectional semifinals on Tuesday night at Grand Lake Health System Court in St. Marys.
The Indians (14-9) return to St. Marys on Friday at 7:30 p.m. to face Upper Scioto Valley in the nightcap of the sectional final doubleheader. The 6 p.m. opener pits Ada, a 58-38 winner over Ridgemont in Tuesday's opener, against top-seeded Marion Local.
New Knoxville (2-20) was determined to make a bid for the upset, leading 7-2 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the first quarter as Troy Dwenger scored five points. The Indians responded as Daniel Patch scored five straight points to make it 8-7 with two minutes remaining. The teams tied at 10- and 12-all before the Indians took a 14-12 lead after one quarter.
"I told the guys coming in to be ready," said Fort Recovery coach Bob Leverette. "It's postseason. It's 0-0 schedule-wise. We knew they were going come out and be scrappy as all get-out. They have the best percentage of 3-point shooting in the MAC. They hit a couple threes early because we didn't get out. Kudos to them, they were ready to go. Luckily we responded to it."
Photo by Zachary Hesse/The Daily Standard
New Knoxville's Troy Dwenger shoots a 3-pointer against Fort Recovery.
Dwenger hit two free throws early in the second quarter to tie the game at 14-all, but Alex Dues broke the tie seconds later with a bucket to start a 13-0 run. Dues, Cale Rammel, Reece Guggenbiller and Rex Leverette contributed to the run before Dwenger ended the Rangers' nearly five-minute cold spell with a trey to make it 27-17 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the half.
"I'm proud of the guys. They took care of business," said coach Leverette.
The Rangers continued to play hard against the Indians, but Fort Recovery limited the Rangers to one shot on most possessions, holding a 44-18 advantage on the boards.
"Nice to have 6-7 (Patch) and 6-5 (Rammel) back there when they drive," said Leverette. "I think we had 17 blocks. Anytime you can do that is great."
Photo by Zachary Hesse/The Daily Standard
Fort Recovery's Daniel Patch shoots a contested three against New Knoxville in the Division IV sectional opener at Grand Lake Health System Court on Tuesday.
Fort Recovery led 44-24 after three quarters, and midway through the fourth quarter, both teams cleared their benches to get the subs some key playing time.
"They fight hard. They want to compete and give it everything they've got every night," said Rangers coach Carson Manger. "Sometimes you just come up short."
Rammel finished his night with 22 points and seven rebounds. Patch had 12 points with Leverette pulling down 10.
Dwenger led New Knoxville with 12 points. Andrew Leffel added 10.
