Heartbreaker

It hurts like a tournament game.
That was the reaction in the locker room immediately after Tuesday night’s game, and later in coach Craig Teagle’s office. That was the kind of effort put forth by both teams.
In a game in which the teams were never separated by more than four points and were tied six times in the second half, the Muncie Central Bearcats parlayed a 3-pointer in overtime to a 32-31 victory over the host Jay County Patriots.
“I told the kids, I’m super proud of their effort,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose team lost Garrett Krieg to a concussion less than three minutes into the second half and was without big man Scott Schwieterman for about 14 minutes because of foul trouble. “I’m proud that I think we’re getting mentally tougher each game and I thought we fought and we battled every possession. …
“I’m totally disappointed for them though. They were heartbroken in the locker room after fighting that hard to get a win and then coming up short.”
After neither team scored in the final two minutes of regulation and were tied again at 27 in overtime, Adam Botts came up with the key hoop when he hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 49 seconds left.
The Patriots (4-2) cut their deficit to one on another drive by Comer with eight seconds left, and then fouled Botts. The junior guard converted to push Central’s lead back to three, and then the Bearcats denied JCHS the opportunity to tie.
Central (4-3) fouled Brock McFarland, who had 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists, before he had a chance to launch a pull-up 3-pointer from the top of the key. He made the first of his one-and-one chance with 2.5 seconds left, and then tried to miss the second intentionally. However, his shot smacked hard off the backboard and through the net.
McFarland grabbed the rebound on the other end after Botts missed a foul shot with 1.9 seconds left, but his desperation heave from three-quarters court flew to the right of the backboard as time expired.
“We were going to take the pull-up three or kick to the corner for the three,” said Teagle. “It was a smart play by them, getting the foul before we could (shoot) it.
“(McFarland) did the exact right thing, hit it hard off the backboard and hopefully it will hit the lip of the rim and bounce up, which gives us a chance to tip it out for a 3-pointer or tip it in. … I believe 99 out of 100 times that thing pops out.”
Jay County, which defeated Muncie Southside by 26 Friday, had a chance to earn wins against both Muncie schools for just the second time in team history. In 1997 it defeated Central and split with the then-Olympic Athletic Conference rival Rebels.
The Patriots were impressive defensively in defeat, holding Central to its lowest point total since a 30-29 loss to New Castle in the 1999 sectional tournament. Since the start of the 2008-09 season the Bearcats have been held to fewer than 40 points just twice, and the other was in last season’s 38-33 win over Jay County.
“Jay County did a great job on us defensively,” said Central coach Matt Fine.“When you’re a team like ours that has to go inside … to our big guys and you’re struggling shooting on the perimeter, you’re hand-made for Jay County to be successful. They’re going to give you perimeter shots and force you to make them. And we did not do that. … That’s the style that they’re great at.”
Central led for most of the first half before Kegan Comer, who went 4-of-5 from the field and 4-of-4 from the foul line to lead the Patriots with 13 points, drove for a lay-up with four seconds left in the second quarter to give his team a 15-14 advantage. JCHS took two-point leads three times in the fourth quarter, only to have the Bearcats pull even each time. The last of those tying hoops from Josh Mawhorr with more than two minutes on the clock, and eventually Central missed two game-winning tries in the final six seconds.
McFarland scored the first hoop of the extra session, but Nick Osborne quickly tied the game for the Bearcats. Botts then came up with the key 3-pointer and Central held on for the win.
“I told our kids it was a great situation for us to be in,” said Fine. “We stuck together. We were down late. We didn’t panic and foul … and I was proud of our guys for that.”
Osborne, Central’s leading scorer, paced the Bearcats with 13 points, but he was limited to 5-of-15 from the field. He also had 11 rebounds.
Two of Central’s three losses this year came when Osborne was suspended for throwing a punch during the team’s win over Yorktown.

Junior varsity
The Patriots fell behind early and dropped to 4-2 with a 43-29 loss to Central.
Austin Cowan scored 10 of his game-high 13 points in the second half for Jay County, which trailed by 10 at the intermission. Trey Teagle added five points.
Marcus Hanyard, Dwight Jefferson and David Dorris each finished with 10 points for the Bearcats.[[In-content Ad]]