Jay tramples Tigers

Although he made the pass that eventually led to the game-winning basket, Kegan Comer didn’t have much going on the offensive end Friday.
On Saturday, he more than made up for it.
Comer ripped the Alexandria Tigers for 16 first-quarter points on the way to scoring a season-high 24 Saturday as Jay County rolled to a 73-35 victory.
“I hit my first three and I was just feeling it,” said Comer, who had three points in Friday’s win over Connersville. “My teammates were giving me (the ball). We were moving it and getting great looks.”
Comer scored his first points from inside the arc before hitting back-to-back 3-pointers on assists from Cade Price and Brock McFarland as he scored the Patriots’ first eight points. He added a third triple with 2:36 to go in the quarter and hit his first six shots.
The junior’s first-quarter outburst helped Jay County to a 20-7 lead.
“I didn’t think he played bad last night, he just didn’t score a whole lot,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle. “He stepped up tonight and hit some shots. He was smart. He got to the same spot to bury the three and we did a good job of getting him the ball. He had a great first quarter.
“And then from that point on I thought we shared the wealth. I thought everyone played well offensively.”
Jay County (8-2) pushed its advantage to 20 at halftime and the went on an offensive rampage in the third quarter. The Patriots had a 9-0 run and racked up 26 points in the period, repeatedly turning steals into easy hoops.
Comer had five of his game-high eight assists in the quarter. McFarland added five assists in the game as JCHS finished with 21 while shooting 66 percent (31-of-47).
“When we play together, we’re a great team,” said Comer, who shot 10-of-12 from the field.
A step-back 3-pointer from McFarland at the third-quarter buzzer gave the Patriots a 33-point lead. They went on to put up their highest scoring total since topping Monroe Central 79-49 on Feb. 22, 2008.
Like Comer, McFarland missed just two shots as he finished 7-of-9 from the field and totaled 17 points.
“It’s been a while it seems like since we’ve had both of them play well on the same night,” said Teagle of the pair. “It seems like we’ve had one on his game and the other one not quite on his game. It was nice to have both of them firing on all cylinders.”
Tyler Back nearly joined his fellow juniors in double figures, going 4-of-5 and scoring nine points. Friday night’s heros, Cade Price and Scott Schwieterman, finished with eight points apiece.
“That’s something we’re kind of shooting for because you know Brock and Kegan are typically going to score, Scott is going to be around double figures, but we need that fourth guy who can step up and score,” said Teagle. “I think Cade is capable of that, I think Tyler is capable of that, I think Trey (Teagle) is capable of that. If we do that, we’re a lot harder to guard.”
Schwieterman, who hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer against Connersville, grabbed six rebounds to lead JCHS to a 25-15 advantage on the glass.
Jay County bumped its defensive average down to 36.6, which is best in the state by two tenths of a point over Centerville. The Bulldogs will visit JCHS Saturday after the Patriots host Winchester on Friday night.
“The coaches told us that we were tied for first in the state for defensive average,” said Comer. “We wanted to pick it up and make sure we were on top for that …
“(Winning two this weekend) is huge. It gives us a lot of momentum, and we have one more (two-game weekend) coming up. We want to be 6-1 in January.”
No team in Class 4A is close to Jay County as Roncolli ranks second giving up 43.7 points per game.
Mitch Yeagy was the only Tiger in double figures as he scored 10 points. He also had three assists.
Landon Breese followed with seven.
Alexandria (7-7), which has alternated wins and losses since defeating Blackford 48-45 in overtime on Dec. 9, struggled to just 30 percent shooting in the first half and 35 percent for the game.

Junior varsity
The Patriots built a 17-point lead heading into the final quarter on the way to a 39-25 victory over Alexandria.
Darren Bogenshutz racked up 17 points, all in the first three quarters, to lead Jay County (6-4), which outscored the Tigers 25-11 in the second and third quarters. Kyle Selvey added five points.
Jake Fox tallied seven points for Alexandria.[[In-content Ad]]