FTs key Jay's win

The Patriots were more than happy to head to the foul line.

After a first half that saw it shoot just 35 percent, the Jay County High School boys basketball team used a spurt at the end of the third quarter to build a lead and then took advantage of its free-throw opportunities. It scored its first 15 points of the fourth quarter on foul shots Saturday in a 52-41 victory over the visiting Centerville Bulldogs.

JCHS coach Craig Teagle said he wasn't thrilled with the way his team played in most phases of the game, but was happy with the outcome.

"The positive is, we ended up hitting free throws at the end," he said. "You've got to do that in close games. (We found) a way to win through the sloppiness of it all."

Seniors Eric Homan and Brad Horn led the Patriots to a 20-of-24 (83 percent) effort at the foul line, scoring 16 and 15 points respectively.

The game shifted late in third quarter with Jay County nursing just a two-point lead.

Garrett Krieg hit a 3-pointer off a Brock McFarland assist, and Kegan Comer followed with a three-point play. Homan added another three-point play to complete a 9-0 run, and the Patriots (7-3) led by 10 with a quarter to play.

"We were up at one point ... 20-19, and then had some good looks that didn't go down," said Centerville coach Ryan Chiddister. "Jay County made some good passes and made some good shots and kind of took control of the game there."

The Bulldogs (8-4) scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to close the gap to 33-27 with six minutes to go, but proceeded to foul Jay County on each of its next six possessions.

Most of those fouls came away from the basket, and the Patriots made Centerville pay by scoring 17 fourth-quarter points at the line.

Twelve of Horn's 15 points came in the fourth quarter, and he finished 10-of-13 from the foul line. Homan added a 6-of-7 effort on free throws and also grabbed nine rebounds.

"They played pretty well, especially Eric coming back from (the back injury)," said Teagle. "He was biting the bit. He wanted to play so bad. And Brad did a good job late especially. We definitely needed them to step up."

The double digit win came despite a difficult first half that saw the Patriots miss several good looks inside as they shot just 7-of-20. But their defense limited Centerville to only two field goals in each of the first three quarters.

Jay County led by two at the half and put the Bulldogs in a difficult position with their run late in the third quarter.

"We knew going into the fourth quarter we didn't want to be down six points or more, because against Jay County you're only going to get a few possessions because they're a smart team," said Chiddister. "Unfortunately, that's where we were at.

"There's not a whole lot you can do at that point if they're hitting foul shots."

Comer followed Homan and Horn with eight points. He also had two assists.

McFarland added six points and five rebounds.

Teagle said his team will need to show much better execution offensively and communication defensively this week when it has three games in four nights against undefeated Mississinewa (14-0), Olympic Athletic Conference rival Anderson Highland (5-9) and Winchester (11-2).

"Hopefully we get into some sort of offensive flow," he said. "And then you've got to play great defense. ... You've got to rebound the ball and then you've got to get to the free throw line and make free throws."

Matt Schauss led all scorers as he put in 18 points for Centerville. He also grabbed eight rebounds.

Jacob Stewart added eight points and six rebounds for the Bulldogs, and Cory Noelker dished out three assists.

Junior varsity

The Patriots turned in an impressive defensive effort in a 25-13 victory over Centerville.

Scott Schwieterman and Drew Houck each scored seven points for Jay County, which shut out the Bulldogs in the opening quarter and allowed just two points in the third. Cade Price added five points.

Braden King was the leading scorer for Centerville with seven points. Spencer Coulter added four.[[In-content Ad]]