JC has great expectations

The Patriots have beaten the No. 1 team in the state — most notably on a last-second shot against Richmond in 1988.
They have had great tournament runs, including the trip to the state finals in 2006.
But Feb. 26 through March 5 may have been the most impressive eight-day span of basketball in the team’s history.
Jay County closed the regular season with a Saturday double-header to make up for missed games, sweeping Bellmont and Norwell. Three days later it rallied from 10 points down in the second half to upset host Huntington North in the sectional opener. Three days after that it bounced sectional favorite Homestead from the tournament, and the following night it defeated a Fort Wayne South Side team led by a Purdue recruit to win its first sectional title in eight years of Class 4A play.
“We have experience back this year,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose team opens its season at home Saturday against Lakewood Park Christian. “We’re still fairly young, but it’s a team I felt matured a lot throughout last year. Especially at the end of the year we were playing our best basketball, which is what you want to do.”
With just two seniors and one junior on last season’s team, three of the top four scorers were sophomores — Brock McFarland, Kegan Comer and Scott Schwieterman. Now juniors, they will lead a team that hopes to win back-to-back sectional titles after Jay County won just one tournament game in its first seven years of Class 4A tournament play (1998-2001 and (2008-10).
Brock McFarland, who hit the game-tying lay-up as time ran out in regulation in the Patriots’ tournament victory over Huntington North, will be a three-year starter this season. The guard averaged a team-best 13.4 points per game a year ago to go along with 4.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.0 steals.
Point guard Kegan Comer also scored in double figures for JCHS last season at 11.3 points per game.
He led the team with 3.7 assists per contest, and also averaged 1.7 steals.
“(Comer) really blossomed, I thought, throughout last year,” Teagle said. “His outside shot has continued to improve. He shoots the pull-up jumper really well. He’s more active with his hands on defense.
“(McFarland) always been able to get to the hole, but his outside shot has improved a lot.
“I’m really proud of both of those kids for working hard to make their shots better.
“Our guard play, obviously should be a strength.”
Six-foot, 5-inch forward Scott Schwieterman led the Patriots with eight rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game a year ago. He also brings back 8.3 points per game to a squad that lost Garrett Krieg (9.4 ppg) and Drew Houck to graduation.
Schwieterman combines with 6-foot-2-inch junior Tyler Back (3.6 rpg) to give the Patriots a formidable front line.
“Scott continues to develop,” said Teagle. “He shoots the ball pretty well from the perimeter. He’s got a good post game. Defensively just having his size around the rim really helps us. …
“I thought in the summer sometimes (Back’s) post play was exceptional. He’s done a good job continuing to gain confidence in his role. … I think he’s really going to help us a lot underneath.
“Those four all have a lot of varsity experience and we’re counting on them to lead us and make us the best team we can be this year.”
Junior Cade Price (2.8 ppg) and senior Stephen Scott (1.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg) are the two players most likely to fill out the starting lineup, with sophomore Trey Teagle rounding out the top seven. Also slated for varsity playing time are junior Darren Bogenschutz and sophomore Jacob Schlosser.
As a group, the team’s biggest loss to graduation came from beyond the 3-point line. Krieg hit a team-best 41 3-pointers a year ago while no one else on the squad tallied more than 16.
Teagle said he thinks his team can be even better defensively this season after ranking fourth in the state and setting a school record by allowing just 41.2 points per game a year ago.
Jay County’s impressive run of five wins in eight days sent it to the regional for the first time since playing in Class 3A in 2007. And even though the Patriots went on to lose in the regional semifinal round to Kokomo, there was a lot of buzz going around the Marion gym that day about the sophomore-dominated JCHS roster.
And in early June, HickoryHusker.com had the Patriots ranked as the No. 7 team in the state.
“I know there’s a lot of high expectations, none higher than my own,” said Teagle, whose team was 17-7 a year ago for its 10th straight winning campaign. “Nothing that happened last year and nothing we say before this year means, really, anything. You’ve got to go out and prove it every night.
“We’re excited. We know that we’ve got a long way to go, but this group of kids is really committed and dedicated. They want to be good basketball players, and they want to be a good basketball team.”[[In-content Ad]]