jmetcalfe@delphosherald.com

FORT RECOVERY — Fort Recovery used a 1-2 punch of senior Wade Gelhaus and junior Elijah Kahlig to pull away from Jefferson 48-37 Friday night in non-league boys basketball action at Fort Site Fieldhouse in Fort Recovery.

Gelhaus, a University of Findlay commit, and Kahlig scored 20 points apiece, with Gelhaus adding 13 rebounds for a double-double.
“Those are two guys I consider college players. They are both tough matchups for anyone,” Jefferson coach Marc Smith noted. “You look at the scouting reports on both and both can beat you from anywhere; you have to defend them deep and they can beat you off the dribble. We had a freshman and a junior guarding them when we had to go man. We have a lot of underclassmen out there a lot of minutes and they all had their share of making nice plays.”

Jefferson (0-2) used a 1-2-2 quarter-court zone to limit touches by the Tribe duo and force the hosts to shoot over the top. The strategy worked as the Tribe shot 2-of-10 overall (18-of-48 for the contest, 4-of-19 from deep, for 37.5%) and Gelhaus went scoreless. On the other end, the visitors scored the first five points, all by junior Ross Thompson (11 markers, 5 boards; limited by foul trouble). Jefferson canned 4-of-7 shots in the period (12-of-28 for the night, 3-of-7 beyond the arc, for 42.9%), including junior Tyler Mox’s 3-ball from the right corner with 40 ticks showing, for an 11-5 edge.