Jay rolls in return

UNION CITY - There was some rust for the Patriots to knock off. They still rolled out to a 20-point lead at halftime.

After having four straight games postponed or canceled because of weather, the Jay County High School boys basketball team returned to action Friday with a dominating 62-34 win over the Union City Indians.

"It was nice just to get back and play somebody else," said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose team had not played since a Feb. 5 win at Eastbrook. "It was really important, just to get a little bit of game speed."

The Patriots (9-6) were in control throughout Friday, pushing to a 10-2 lead just over three minutes into the game. They extended the lead to 17 with an 11-0 run capped by Josh Beaty converting back-to-back steals into four points.

Senior Eric Homan scored six of Jay County's first eight points, and freshman Brock McFarland had six of his 10 points in the opening period.

"Brock does a really good job breaking down D, getting into the paint," said Teagle. "Both of those guys played well early I thought. I thought Garrett did a nice job too ..."

Homan finished with nine points, and Krieg, Brad Horn and Adam Daniels each added eight.

A 9-0 Jay County run to open the second quarter made it 32-8. The lead was 20 at halftime, and the Patriots shut out Union City in the third quarter to take a 49-19 advantage.

The Indians (8-9) were 0-for-6 from the field and 0-for-4 at the foul line in the third quarter, and never got closer than 25 in the fourth quarter despite having JCHS clear the bench for the final five minutes. The Patriots limited Union City to just 28 percent shooting for the game.

"I thought our defensive extension may not have gotten a lot of turnovers, but may have gotten them in a hurry a lot of times and they took a quick shot," said Teagle. "That's what we wanted to do.

"We did a good job in the second half coming out and dictating the tempo of the game."

Jay County had an outstanding shooting night, hitting for 67 percent (16-of-24) in the first half and 60 percent for the game.

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It got assists on 15 of its 22 made baskets, with Krieg dishing out four assists and Kegan Comer adding three.

McFarland led a dominant effort on the glass with five boards the Patriots out-rebounded Union City 28-15. Horn added four rebounds.

The only downside for the evening for JCHS, which also shot 14-of-17 from the foul line, was its 16 turnovers.

"I wasn't surprised we would have a lot of turnovers, but I thought we would have them in the first quarter. We had one in the first quarter, and then 15 the rest of the way. Some of its just being sloppy ..."

In the final five minutes, Drew Houck hit his lone field-goal attempt and all three free-throw tries for five points. Andy Haffner grabbed a pair of rebounds, and Scott Schwieterman added an assist.

"We tried to play some kids and give them looks because they practice hard every night. We got a lot of kids into the ball game late," said Teagle. "Those kids that were playing there are the kids who are going to be playing varsity basketball next year, so we wanted them to get a taste and feel of it."

Frankie Candiano was the game's leading scorer as he led Union City with 15 points. He also grabbed five rebounds.

Tyler Mote added seven points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Junior varsity

The Patriots' defense was dominant on the way to a 36-13 victory over Union City.

Jay County led 16-2 after the opening period and gave up just three points to Indians in the second and third quarters.

Cade Price and Drew Houck each scored 12 points to lead the Patriots. Scott Schwieterman added six.

Kavan Knox paced Union City with four points.[[In-content Ad]]