Devils beat JC

The loss to the Devils was in the details.
Jay County fought back from a 16-point deficit and got to within four late, but turnovers, fouls and a lack of execution late left the comeback short in a 48-43 loss to Richmond.
“We gave ourselves a chance at the end,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle. “We got back in it, but again our lack of attention to detail and self discipline probably cost us at the end.”
The Patriots rallied with a 14-2 run and Richmond (9-2) left the door open late. The Red Devils went 0-for-7 from the field in the fourth quarter and missed six free throws in the final 2:31 of the game.
However, Jay County (6-2) gave the ball away on back-to-back possessions after pulling to within 44-38 and committed fouls after each. And after they closed the gap to four with 1:01 left, they proceeded to let 25 seconds run off the clock before fouling one of Richmond’s best free-throw shooters.
“We’ve just got to think better on the court,” said Teagle. “When you play that kind of athleticism, you can’t make mental mistakes.
“I still think our major flaw as a team is a lack of self discipline and we don’t pay attention to detail. I think those are two things that are correctable, but that is our major problem right now.
“There’s a lot of things that we can do better. The good news is there’s a lot of room for improvement. We’re not playing our best basketball by any means, so we’ve got a chance to be a really good basketball team.”
The game was tied after Cade Price hit a pair of free throws for the Patriots early in the second quarter, but the home team struggled to score over the next 10 minutes. They managed just one field goal, a second-chance hoop by Kegan Comer, in the second quarter and went scoreless for the first 3:43 of the third.
“When they use those athletes and tighten it around the basket … it’s hard to find a score,” said Teagle, whose team had success early when the Red Devils tried to press and trap. “When he shortened the court like that, that kept ( 6-foot-8-inch forward Bola Olaniyan) around the rim more. They were able … to keep us away from the paint.”
Richmond pushed its advantage to 42-26 late in the third period before Trey Teagle hit Jay County’s first 3-pointer of the game to start the comeback. Teagle added a second triple during the run, and Comer’s free throws with 1:01 left cut the gap to 44-40 before the rally fizzled.
“It’s just I think the overall community attitude is this is just a winning place, a never-say-die place, and the kids represent their school and their community in that aspect,” said Red Devils’ coach Joe Luce of the comeback. “The way that they just continue to strive to finish and to win is something I really respect. … Tonight I think it showed that Jay County is a place where it’s never over until the horn blows.
“It’s a difficult place to play, a very hard-nosed team that we played against … but we stepped up and made some plays at the end to find a way to win.”
Olaniyan keyed Richmond on both ends of the floor. He shot 6-of-8 from the field to lead the Red Devils with 17 points, grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and blocked six shots.
Quinten Hunter added 16 points.
After notching his season-high with 17 points in Friday’s win over Mississinewa, Scott Schwieterman bumped it up again with a game-high 19 points Saturday. Kegan Comer joined him in double figures with 10 points, and grabbed a team-best seven boards.

Junior varsity
Jay County struggled to score as the Red Devils pulled away for a 37-13 victory.
Jacob Schlosser hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight points to lead the Patriots, who were down by eight at the half and got outscored 14-1 in the final period. Zane Shreve followed with three points.
Nathan Jones and Tre’Von Buchannon each scored eight points to pace Richmond.[[In-content Ad]]