The Daily Standard
Story Archive
Fort Recovery's Brody Barga (5) goes above Covington's Landin Cassel for the rebound during Thursday's Division VI sectional game at Troy High School.
TROY - After a tough end to the regular season, it was back to business for Fort Recovery Thursday night in Troy, as the Indians dominated Covington 56-27 to win their Division VI Southwest sectional final.
"I felt like we've been playing pretty good these last five games, but came out with one win," Fort Recovery coach Bob Leverette said. "We wanted to get something to show for our effort, so it was good to get a win tonight."
The win sets up Fort Recovery with a matchup on March 3 against Springfield Northeastern after the Jets beat Dixie 74-65 earlier in the night.
It was a fast start for the Indians (13-10), in a tone setting first quarter. Brody Barga scored four points in four minutes to give his team a 9-3 lead. Covington (3-20), led by guard Brant Angle, fought back to make it 11-6, but a Breaker Jutte layup put the Indians ahead 15-9 by the buzzer.
The big advantage for Fort Recovery was on the inside. Barga had four rebounds in the first quarter, which tied Covington's total.
Douglas Bihn kept that theme going with a put-back to open the second quarter. A Barga free-throw pushed the score to 20-9, and Grant Fortkamp made it 22-9 on a jumper. Colson Post got in on the action with a steal-and-score that made the score 24-9 halfway through the quarter.
Fort Recovery's Hudson Overman shoots over the Covington defense.
The run continued after Hudson Overman's layup that made it an 11-0 stretch. Post pushed it to a 21-point lead after another steal led to two points, and Barga ended the half with a free-throw. It was a 16-0 quarter for the Indians, who led 31-9 at the half.
Barga had 10 points to pace his team at the half, while Post added eight. Covington was led by Angle's six points, but were 0-for-8 in the second quarter with six turnovers.
"I didn't even realize until coach Dilworth said that we goose-egged them," Leverette said of the second quarter surge. "That's just good, solid defense."
A Covington turnover began the second half, while Fort Recovery was fine with chewing some clock. Against a soft zone defense, it took the Indians nearly three minutes to score but Overman broke the scoring with a layup. It was off a nice pass from Barga, and the lead was 33-9.
Covington finally got on the board on a layup from Landin Cassel, the first points since the two minute mark of the first quarter. Jutte scored the next four points for the Indians to push the margin to 37-13 with 3:40 left in the third. After Cassel got another shot to drop, Overman connected from three and the score was 40-17.
The final three minutes of the third quarter saw a pair of baskets, and Fort Recovery took a 43-17 lead into the fourth quarter. The third still ended well for the Indians, who added 12 points to the total while they held the Buccs to eight.
Fort Recovery's Breaker Jutte goes up for a layup during Thursday's game with Covington at Troy.
Entering the fourth quarter with a 26-point lead, Fort Recovery kept scoring. Jutte's hook shot made it 45-17 to open the scoring. Barga got his team to the 50-point mark on a tough layup, despite the Covington offense keeping pace over the quarter.
A trey from Covington's Nick Carnes forced Leverette to call timeout with the score 50-27. It was the first timeout called by the Indians all game, and the bench units entered the floor.
The final six points belonged to Fort Recovery, with Brayden Dilworth's deep trey the highlight of the final stretch.
The buzzer sounded and the Indian faithful rose to their feet. Hudson Overman led the way with 14 points, while Barga added 12 and eight rebounds. The inside might as well been painted purple, with the Indians holding a 34-15 advantage on the glass.
"You have to put (the regular season) in perspective. The sky's not falling and we're going to be fine," Leverette said of the 1-4 end of the regular season. "We won't face those teams suntil regionals, and that's our goal."
Covington was led by Angle's 13, the lone Buccs in double-figures.
