Jay pulls away

Over the years, end-of-quarter plays have become a staple of Jay County’s success. Friday night, they converted on all three.
One of those was a display of unselfish play, with two Patriots giving the ball up before Tyler Back laid the ball in with just two seconds left in the first half.
The score gave Jay County the lead for good on the way to a 52-39 victory over the Connersville Spartans.
“Getting that lead at half was huge I thought,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose team improved to 6-3. “It gave us momentum coming off the court …
“Playing with the lead is a heck of a lot easier than playing from behind in the second half.”
The Patriots trailed for the first 14-plus minutes, but never by more than four points. They grabbed their first lead on a Kegan Comer three-point play with 1:44 on the second-quarter clock, but Connersville (4-9) stepped in front again on a couple of Zach Miller free throws.
Jay County then held the ball for the final shot, with Comer driving into the lane. He passed up on a pull-up jumper to dish the ball to Brock McFarland behind the 3-point line on the right side. McFarland also eschewed the shot, instead attacking the basket before dumping the ball to Back underneath for the lay-up.
Back and McFarland combined for the first four points of the second half and Jay County stayed in control, pushing its lead to double digits late and hitting 11-of-12 free throws in the final 1:30.
The other end-of-quarter scores for the Patriots came from McFarland on a lay-up in the first quarter and Drew Houck with a 3-pointer off an assist from Comer in the third.
“Those were huge plays,” said Connersville coach Kerry Brown. “Every time at the end of the quarter, they made a play. Those are just momentum backbreakers. …
“I can’t tell you how big those plays are.”
McFarland racked up a game-high 19 points for Jay County, which won its fourth straight over the Spartans. He dominated the glass, grabbing 11 rebounds and also dished out four assists.
Houck finished 3-of-4 from 3-point range as he totaled 10 points, and Back had 10 points and five rebounds.
“He had a lot of defensive rebounds,” said Teagle of McFarland, who led JCHS to a 24-14 advantage on the glass. “He did a great job rebounding from the guard spot, which is a hard block out. … Those were really big for us, especially without Scott Schwieterman’s size underneath.
“Drew (Houck) is one of our best 3-point shooters. … We ran the offense we started out in so he could pop out and be the reversal guy so he could have a look at the three. … It was a big game from him, and he just keeps getting better and better each game.”
Schwieterman (ineligible) and Garrett Krieg (concussion) each missed their third straight game for the Patriots. Teagle said Schwieterman, who was declared ineligible for three games by the IHSAA for participating on an organized team during the season, will play tonight when JCHS visits Alexandria.
Krieg is expected to return Friday for the Patriots’ game at Winchester.
Miller scored 16 points to lead the Spartans, who were up by two after the first period and four midway through the second. He hit 5-of-6 two-point attempts and all of his six free throws, but went 0-for-5 from long distance.
“People are up on his shot. They’re under him,” said Brown. “They’re really pressuring and contesting. Either we’ve got to find a better way to get him open, or we’ve got to get him around people and get him some space. ... That’s the way it’s been all season. Everything he does is pressured.”
Landon Speers added nine points, and Sean Davis scored eight.
Jay County and Connersville were both outstanding from the free-throw line, each missing just two attempts. The Patriots were 17-of-19 for 90 percent, and the Spartans finished 14-of-16 for 88 percent.

Junior varsity
Jay County was outscored 14-4 in the final period of a 38-30 loss to the Spartans.
Phillip Anderson scored 12 points to lead the Patriots, who were up by two at the half and at the end of the third quarter. Austin Cowan hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight points.
Blake Zimmerman buried four 3-pointers for Connersville as he totaled a game-high 18 points. Dane O’Neal added 10 points.[[In-content Ad]]