Jay spoils Tigers' mood

YORKTOWN — Yorktown honored its volleyball state championship team Saturday with a ring presentation ceremony at halftime. The Patriots did their best to kill the Tigers’ mood.
Jay County led by double digits for most of the second half and put the game away with a six-point play in a 54-37 victory over the Tigers.
The Patriots got their seventh straight win — they’ve held opponents to fewer than 40 points in all of them — and shot 73 percent in the second half behind a 25-point performance by Kegan Comer.
“It’s a huge confidence-builder, especially for our next two games,” said Comer, who eclipsed his previous season high by a point. “We need that going into Delta and Wayne.
“Coach Teagle was telling us how they just came off of a huge loss to Pendleton Heights (Friday) night and they’d be all fired up. So we just came out ready to play.”
It was supposed to night of celebration for the Tigers, who won the Class 3A volleyball state title in November, but Jay County scored the first four points and never trailed.
The Patriots (13-2) took control in the second quarter with a 9-0 run that included 3-pointers from Brock McFarland and Comer while Yorktown missed a couple of foul shots and turned the ball over twice.
“We have to learn how to be mentally tough when were winning and mentally tough when we’re losing,” said Yorktown coach Greg Miller. “There’s got to be a balance. When you’re missing free throws like we missed them today, you’re just not very mentally in tune.”
JCHS was up by nine at the intermission before Scott Schwieterman pushed the lead to double digits with back-to-back baskets to start the third quarter.
The Tigers cut an 18-point deficit down to 13 in the fourth before Schwieterman dished to McFarland for a lay-up. Yorktown picked up a technical foul when Edmond Davis slammed the ball on the floor after the play, leading to a pair of free throws by Comer. And the technical gave the ball back to Jay County, with Comer drawing another foul and burying two more foul shots to finish off the six-point possession.
“In the fourth we had struggled on two or three offensive possessions … and we threw the ball in to Scott, Brock cuts off of him, give-and-go lay-up, foul,” said Teagle. “They got a frustration technical out of it. I thought that was a huge possession. I thought that was a big play by Scott Schwieterman, a great job. He got doubled, dumps it to the cutting guard and we finished it with Brock.”
Jay County held Tigers’ leading scorer Seth Cook, who averages 15 points per game, to just five points. Brandon Phillips was the lone Yorktown player in double figures as he went 3-for-3 from long distance and scored 12.
Consecutive losses on the weekend to Pendleton Heights and Jay County dropped the Tigers to 11-5.
“We played good teams,” said Miller. They’ve got 30 wins between them. We knew what was coming. We wanted to use these games as kind of a lesson learned whether we win them or lose them … so they’re going to make us better in our tournament … because we’re going to run into a team that’s just like these guys. We have obviously work to do.”
Comer matched Phillips with 3-pointers and hit all of his six free throws en route to his season-high total. McFarland joined him in double figures with 16 points as Jay County hit 11 of its 15 second-half field goal attempts (73 percent) after shooting just 43 percent before the break.
“That’s good offensive execution,” said Teagle. “That means getting the ball to the right people in the right spots.
“Less dribble, more pass. That’s what motion offense is about. We tell the guys all the time, ‘If you’re dribbling the ball, five guys are guarding you. If you don’t have the ball, one guy is guarding you …’ That’s the easiest time to get open.
“I thought we used our screens a little bit better. I thought we cut a little bit harder. I just thought that we played with more focus on the offensive and defensive ends.”

Junior varsity
Jay County struggled in the third quarter on the way to a 29-21 loss to the Tigers.
Kyle Selvey totaled six points for the Patriots, who led by four at the half before being outscored 11-1 in the third period. Darren Bogenschutz added four points.
Caleb Morey racked up 13 points to lead Yorktown to the win. Kameron Kennedy and Derek Fox notched four points apiece.[[In-content Ad]]