Another big win

For a lot of teams, a 28-point win while shooting 66 percent would represent a banner night.
For the Patriots so far this season, it’s just another day at the office.
Jay County never trailed Friday, scoring the first five points, dominating the second quarter and rolling to a 56-28 victory over the visiting Muncie Southside Rebels.
“I’ve got to give Jay County credit,” said Southside coach Jeff Howard. “They shot well. They were everything I thought they would be. …
“Maybe they are the 11th-ranked team in the state in 4A. Or maybe they’re top five. I don’t know, but they played well tonight.”
The Patriots, who were 11th in the voting in the most recent Class 4A poll by The Associated Press, have won every game this season by 19 or more points, and are shooting 68 percent through five games.
“That’s amazing that we’ve shot that well,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose team is 5-0 for the fourth time in five seasons. “But a lot of that is the residue of good shot selection. If you can get a lay-up, then you shouldn’t be missing a lot of them. …
“We’re not going to shoot 60 percent every game, but right now we’re taking great shots.”
Jay County missed its first two shots against the Rebels, but the cold streak didn’t last long. The Patriots converted on six of their final seven field goal attempts in the first quarter, and then outscored Southside 11-2 in the second.
They took a 24-7 lead into the half, had a 10-2 run in the third quarter and just kept pulling away.
Brock McFarland broke the 20-point barrier for the second straight game as he made all of his eight field-goal attempts and finished with 21 points. He scored 23 in the Patriots’ 50-point win over South Adams on Dec. 8.
Kegan Comer, who had a fast-break dunk in the third quarter off an assist from Scott Schwieterman when the Rebels tried to use full-court pressure, added 14 points, Schwieterman reached double figures as he shot 5-of-6 for 10 points.
Comer and McFarland, who shared the game-high with five rebounds, seemed to be able to get to the basket almost at will against Southside.
“It was New Castle all over again,” said Howard, referencing his team’s 63-33 loss Dec. 5 to the Trojans. “We could not guard people consistently off the dribble.
“As opposed to, you look at how (the Patriots) guarded us. They bumped us. They bodied us. And then, when we got in the lane, there was at least somebody there waiting.”
Jay County held the Rebels to just 19 percent (3-of-16) from the field in the first half and 33 percent for the game. Southside’s only hoop in the second quarter came on a scramble play after the Patriots just missed coming up with a steal.
“I thought we executed the defensive game plan really well,” said Teagle. “We pretty well contained their sets. We did a pretty good job keeping the ball in front of us most of the night.
“Our kids knew exactly where they needed to be and they executed. I can’t think of anything (the Rebels) did where our kids weren’t ready for it.”
While the Patriots had three players in double figures, Aaren Kelly paced Southside with just six points. De’Aundre Twilley had four points and five rebounds, and Terrance Johnson also had four points.
Jay County will host the other Muncie team, the Central Bearcats (1-4), on Tuesday. It has lost three in a row to Central since winning 53-40 in overtime as part of an 8-0 start to the 2008-09 season.

Junior varsity
Jay County fell behind 5-2 before dominating the rest of the game for a 37-15 victory over the Rebels.
Justin Dirksen outscored Southside on his own as he finished with 17 points. Eleven of those came in the first half.
Zane Shreve added six points for the Patriots (3-2), who closed the first half on a 20-1 run for an 18-point advantage. Kyle Selvey finished with five points
Steven Winningham paced the Rebels as he finished with six points. Tyree Womack scored three.[[In-content Ad]]