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Versailles
sophomore Kyle Ahrens netted 21 for the Tigers Friday to
help lead Versailles
to a 55-47 victory over visiting Franklin Monroe.
Jets junior Travis Feitshans led all in
scoring with 23 points. CNO
file photos by Dylan Knoop
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Versailles gets ‘come from behind’ victory
Jets push hard but fall in the end
By George Starks
VERSAILLES- The Franklin Monroe Jets flew into Versailles and it was
obvious right from the start, they were on a mission.
A mission that meant dropping a loss on Versailles in the Tigers Den.
It’s no secret that the two teams know each other well as the Tigers
were once a big part of the Jet Tournament over the Christmas vacation.
A tournament the Tigers won on several occasions, so the Jets were not
intimidated.
Holding as much as a 13 point lead in the first half and 42-36 at the
end of the third quarter, Franklin Monroe ran out of gas in the final
eight minutes as the host Tigers came from behind to take a 55-47
victory.
“I’m not sure what happened tonight but it seemed like Lehman all over
again,” said Versailles coach Scott McEldowney. “I don’t know if it’s
because of three games in one week and our legs were really fatigued or
what. Give Franklin Monroe credit. They played hard and they were
fresh. They moved the ball well and hit a lot of three’s on us in the
first half. We just seemed like we were a little bit more laid back on
defense than we normally are.”
Trailing by that 16 point deficit heading into the final frame, the
Tigers were not going to be denied.
After junior Travis Feitshans hit in the paint to get the fourth
started and give the Jets a 44-36 advantage, Versailles finally got its
legs and started to play, going on a 7-0 mini run to close the gap to
44-43 with 5:53 remaining in the game.
After a time-out called by FM coach Troy Myers, Versailles would
continue its assault, getting a deuce from sophomore Kyle Ahrens to
give Versailles its second lead of the night, 45-44. A lead the Tigers
would never give up.
“It took us some time to get things going tonight,” said McEldowney.
“Once we got some things spread out a got a little more patient, things
started to fall into place. We still need to make better decisions but
we will spend the next two weeks really hitting hard the end of game
situations.”
The Jets came in on their version of a search and destroy mission.
Franklin Monroe jumped out to a 5-0 lead early before the Tigers could
get on the board.
Once Versailles scored, they would go on a 8-0 spurt and would take a
10-5 lead.
Franklin Monroe would eventually respond with another run of its own
and take a commanding 18-10 lead after one.
By the end of the first half, the Jets lead had been trimmed to 28-22
but in that opening 16 minutes, the Jets attack from outside the arc
was relentless, dropping one three bomb after another and six in the
game total.
On the inside, it was Feitshans that was too much to handle as the Jet
sophomore had netted 11 of his game high 23 while Devon Fourman had
equaled that 11 point output for Franklin Monroe.
While the Tigers couldn’t silence the man in the middle for the Jets,
they held Fourman to just two points in the second half and only five
points for the Jets total in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers were the third of three MAC teams the Jets play during
the season with Ft. Recovery and Marion Local being the other two.
“We put these MAC teams on our schedule for a reason,” said Jets coach
Troy Meyers. “Playing them will only make us better. We are improving
but we need to get better and playing teams of this caliber can only
make us better.”
Coming off a big road win Friday night at Miami East (46-34) the Jets
wanted to make it two in a row and knocking off the Tigers would look
good as the tournament draw is just a week away.
“I think we are starting to turn the corner,” said Myers. “Toughness is
a big part of who we are and right now, we are making that next step.
We are young but we are maturing quickly and with the tournament draw
getting close, we have to be ready.”
The Tigers were led on the floor by Ahrens with 21. Cad Winner and
Damien Richard had 14 each in support.
Versailles, 14-3, will host Delphos St. John on Friday in a MAC contest
while FM, 9-8, will get back into the CCC Friday when the Jets host
Covington.
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