Highly motivated

For a four-game stretch, the Patriots weren’t playing at the level to which they’re accustomed. That lull is over.
Jay County took control in the first quarter Tuesday, fought off a Norwell surge early in the third quarter and then pulled away for a 68-52 victory over the visiting Knights.
The win came 10 days after the Patriots won by 15 over Wayne, the team that eliminated them from the sectional tournament last season.
“Especially for the Wayne game I think they were highly motivated to make a point because that was a sectional team,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose team has won 13 in a row. “And then tonight I thought so too because last year at their place it was a tough game and a hard-fought loss. And then they went to the state championship game last year, so I think our kids wanted to prove something on their own floor.”
Jay County (19-2) did so by matching the Knights’ outside shooting early and opening a six-point lead at the quarter break. It pushed ahead by double figures in the second period, and then turned back a Norwell rally.
The Knights (13-6), who beat JCHS by eight last season, got within seven at the half and then closed to within 37-34 on a pair of free throws by Cam Denney a couple of minutes into the third quarter. But the Patriots responded by ripping off the next nine points in a row and continuing for a 17-2 run to take control. It added a 9-1 run late in the fourth quarter as it pulled away for the 16-point win.
“That’s them stepping up their D,” said Norwell coach Randy Hawkins, whose team was averaging 75 points per game. “They’re a quality basketball team, and very well-coached.
‘They’re always a challenge. It’s always good to play a team like that before a tournament run. … We’re going to see adverse situations in the tournament. It’s all about responding.”
Jay County shot 8-of-12 (67 percent) from 3-point range, with Jacob Schlosser and Kegan Comer hitting three long-distance shots apiece. The Patriots shared the job of distributing the ball as Trey Teagle, Tyler Back, Comer, McFarland and Schwieterman all finished with three assists.
“It felt really good,” said Schlosser, who was 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. “I felt confident shooting it.
“We got open looks. We all found each other. Any time someone was open, we got it to them.”
Comer and Scott Schwieterman each shot 7-of-9 from the field as they led the Patriots with 17 and 15 points respectively. Brock McFarland added 14 points, leaving him just 10 short of Jay County’s all-time scoring record of 1,155 held by 1993 graduate Dan Ferrell.
Norwell also shot the ball well from long distance as it finished 9-of-18. Six of those 3-pointers came in the first half.
“At the beginning of the game when we were playing defense we just didn’t have our hands on the ball,” said Comer. “We were there, but we just didn’t have our hands up. Once we started putting our hands up, changing their shots and making them shoot different shots it changed.”
In addition to the scoring record, Jay County has a chance to hit several team milestones in Friday’s regular-season finale against Bellmont.
With a victory, the Patriots would finish with a perfect 11-0 record on their home floor. They would match the school record for wins (20) set by the 2005-06 squad that advanced to the Class 3A state championship game. It would also tie the JCHS record for the longest winning streak in school history (14 games) set in 2007-08.

Junior varsity
Jay County fought back and took the lead in the fourth quarter only to fall 27-26 to the Knights on an overtime buzzer beater.
The Patriots led 26-25 in overtime, but turned the ball over on an inbound pass to give the ball back to Norwell with 5.8 seconds remaining. The Knights got the ball to Jordan Dickey, who launched a turn-around jumper from just inside the top of the arc that fell through at the buzzer to give his team the win.
Dickey scored 14 points to lead Norwell, which led by eight at halftime before scoring just four points in the second half. Bray Wilson added six points.
Nick Clemens, Zach Fullenkamp and Zach Pryor each finished with seven points for JCHS (11-8).[[In-content Ad]]