Fort Recovery trounces Arcanum

FORT RECOVERY - After a cold shooting night last week against Minster, Fort Recovery didn't have to wait long to look to get back into the swing of things on Monday night at Fort Site Fieldhouse.

A 10-0 start to the game and a dominating night on the offensive boards allowed the Indians to pick up their ninth win of the season with a 65-25 decision over Arcanum.

The Trojans, currently in second place in the Cross County Conference, drop to 10-5 on the season.  

The Indians (9-3) worked the ball inside - with no Trojan player taller than 5-8 - and outside on the night. The height advantage definitely paid off as Fort Recovery outrebounded Arcanum 37-15, including a blistering 16-4 on the offensive boards.

"We crashed the boards like we're capable of doing," said Fort Recovery coach Doug Bihn. "We didn't have that on Thursday night. Hopefully, it will continue for us."

Things got started well as Joanna Snyder nailed a three-pointer to get the scoring underway. Kelsey Wuebker followed with back-to-back buckets, and Kinsey Wenning added a bucket of her own. Chelsey Luethold concluded the 10-0 run to start the game with a free throw before Devon Meyer broke the skid for the Trojans with a bucket with 4:10 left in the first quarter.

From there, it was a score frenzy. The Indians were up 18-4 after one quarter of play and kept Arcanum in single digits until 1:39 left in the first half when the Trojans' Betsy Printz scored to make it 32-10. The Indians went into the break up 34-12 as Bihn got every player he dressed into the game at some point in the first half.

"It was a nice one from the standpoint that all the kids got in and played some significant minutes," said Bihn.

Not much changed in the second half as the Indians shot over 50 percent from the field. The lead increased through the 20s and 30s before finally hitting the 40-point barrier in the final two minutes of the game.

"The kids came out and played well," said Bihn. "They played hard all night."

Arcanum coach Steve Christ didn't have much to say about the game.

"We knew it was going to be physical, but I didn't think it would be quite that physical," said Christ. "They weren't dirty or anything. We're in a MAC town and you have to play tough. Their girls were bigger and stronger than us. We put up a fight, but when our arms come up to the middle of their forearms, not much you can do."

Anne Koesters came off the bench to score 12 points for the Indians and 10 of the 13 other Indians that played scored at least two points.

Emily Schellhaas led Arcanum with eight points.

The Fort Recovery junior varsity improved to 12-0 on the season with a 61-28 win. Holly Brunswick led the way with 15 points.

Fort Recovery is back in action on Thursday, traveling to New Knoxville.