Lincolnview rally stuns Fort Recovery

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

“We found a way to win.”

Those were the words of Lincolnview boys’ basketball coach Brett Hammons after the Lancers rallied from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter and went on to stun Fort Recovery 57-54 on Saturday.

Lincolnview improved to 6-1, while Fort Recovery fell to 5-4 on the season.

Things didn’t look good for the Lancers early in the final period. A trey by guard Cale Rammel gave the Indians a 53-41 lead with 5:12 left, but it turned out to be Fort Recovery’s final basket of the game. From there, Lincolnview went on 16-1 run, including a steal, layup and foul shot by Collin Overholt and a steal that led to a triple by Creed Jessee that trimmed the deficit to 53-50.

Another triple by Jessee drew the Lancers to within one, 54-53, then a layup by Aaron Cavinder gave Lincolnview a 55-54 advantage with 50 seconds left. A pair of free throws by Overholt with 16 seconds left provided the final margin. The 5-10 senior guard finished with 16 points in the game.

“Things kind of changed in our favor after a couple of turnovers and I thought our guys did a lot better job of getting up in the gaps and taking passes away and I thought our traps were a lot better,” Hammons said. “Creed hit that big three, Landon Price had a big three earlier and our shots from the outside finally started to fall and we made some big free throws. It was a whole team effort.”

“Collin’s been big for us all year long,” Hammons added. “He stepped up in clutch situations and we like having him as our point guard. He makes the guys around him better and he was big for us in this game.”

Fort Recovery led 15-13 after the first quarter, with Jake Bowersock scoring six points in the period. The 6-4 senior added six more points in the second quarter, including a buzzer-beater, but the Lancers trailed 25-23 at halftime.

“He was huge for us,” Hammons said of Bowersock. “He’s the guy we always try to get the ball down to and we tried to feed him as much as we could and I’m proud of him for the effort he gave and the way he came through for our team.”

The Indians began to pull away in the third quarter, with Owen Jutte and Cale Rammel combining for 14 of Fort Recovery’s 20 points in the quarter. By the end of the period, the Indians enjoyed a 46-36 lead over the hosts. Jutte went on to finish with a game-high 18 points, while Rammel had 16.

Both teams shot reasonably well from the floor, with Lincolnview going 22-of-45, while Fort Recovery was 21-39. The Lancers went 8-of-9 from the foul line compared to just 3-of-9 for Fort Recovery. The taller Indians had a 23-13 rebounding advantage, but Lincolnview won the turnover battle by committing just six, compared to 15 by Fort Recovery.

The Lancers are scheduled to host Columbus Grove in a key Northwest Conference game on Friday.

“Next Friday is a big one for us and we need to be ready for that,” Hammons said. “We need four good practices. Our main goal is the conference and we know the team on top is coming on Friday.”

Scoring summary

Lincolnview: Clayton Leeth 4-0-9; Aaron Cavinder 2-0-4; Collin Overholt 5-5-16; Landon Price 1-0-3; Jake Bowersock 7-2-16; Creed Jessee 3-1-9

Fort Recovery: Derek Jutte 3-2-9; Owen Jutte 7-0-18; Cale Rammel 6-0-16; Gavin Thobe 1-0-2; Brian Bihn 4-1-9

JV: Lincolnview 49-43