No. 1 MC tops Jay

MUNCIE — The Bearcats are playing in Class 3A this season for the first time in their history.
Their 3-point shooting carried them Tuesday night.
Muncie Central, the top-ranked team in Class 3A, shot 8-of-13 from long distance and wore out Jay County late as it handed the visiting Patriots a 58-33 defeat.
“That’s the only way we were going to let them beat us,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle after his team suffered its first defeat. “They were going to have to hit outside shots, and credit to them … They stepped up and hit the outside shot. I thought a couple of them were too open, but man the Botts kid hit a couple of tough ones too off the dribble left …”
The Patriots (5-1) focused on limiting Nick Osborne, a 6-foot-8-inch senior who leads Central (7-0) with 17.3 points per game, sagging back and trying to keep the ball out of the post.
Adam Botts and the rest of the Bearcat shooters took advantage.
Botts hit each of his first four 3-point attempts and finished 5-of-7 from behind the arc on the way to a 25-point effort. Central shot 62 percent from long distance for the game and hit as many 3-point shots (eight) as it did two-pointers.
“Our game plan was we had to be able to knock down some threes,” said Bearcats coach Matt Fine. “When we’ve been successful against Jay County we’ve knocked threes down. And Adam got us off to a great start. We ran our first couple plays for him, and I think that kind of gave him some confidence. He didn’t play as well Saturday as he would have liked … so it was great to get off to the start we did.”
Even with Central’s dead-eye shooting, the Patriots stayed in the game. They trailed just 35-30 following a Tyler Back hoop off an assist from Trey Teagle with 1 minute, 32 seconds left in the third quarter.
But Jay County turned the ball over on its next possession, Botts hit his fifth 3-pointer with 6.5 seconds to go and the Bearcats stormed away in the fourth quarter.
“We got fatigued. We were tired,” said Teagle after Central finished on a 23-3 run. “We’re not as deep as we need to be. … They played extremely well at the end. They looked fresher than us.”
The Bearcats shot 15-of-20 from the foul line, including 12-of-15 in the final period. Botts was a perfect 8-for-8 on the way to his game-high scoring total.
Travis Woods, who hit two 3-pointers, followed with 13 points. Point guard Kaleb Mallory dished out five assists as he facilitated an offense that shot 57 percent from the field.
“Kaleb has had a great year,” said Fine. “He was a JV kid for us last year. He has a lot of confidence right now. ... He really did a good job on both ends of the floor.”
Jay County did what it hoped in terms of limiting Osborne as he finished with just five points. Scott Schwieterman, who scored six points, had the defensive assignment for most of the night.
“I thought he did a really good job,” said Teagle, noting that Schwieterman was just as important helping the Patriots get open looks on the other end of the floor. “I thought it really hurt us when he got his second foul in the second quarter. That hurt us. …
 “Once Scott went out, then they basically locked on to us”
JCHS shot 52 percent from the field, but Kegan Comer (5-of-7) was the only player in double figures with 11 points. Brock McFarland, Tyler Back and Schwieterman each added six points.
McFarland added four rebounds and four assists.
“It was a great game for us to see where we go from here if we want to compete at that level and try to win our sectional,” said Teagle. “We’re going to have to play a team like Muncie Central to do that. …
“We hated to lose. Our kids our disappointed. But if we can learn something from it then it will be well worth it.”

Junior varsity
The Patriots rallied from a double-digit deficit to pull to within three points in the fourth quarter, but did not get any closer in a 45-38 defeat.
Jay County (4-2) trailed by as many as 14 points before closing the gap to 41-38 on a Zane Shreve three-point play with 2:49 left in the game. However, the Patriots did not score again as Central scored the game’s final four points.
Darren Bogenschutz hit a couple of 3-pointers and scored 14 points to lead JCHS. Shreve followed with six points, and Jacob Schlosser scored six.
Charles Jefferson scored 10 of his team-high 11 points for the Bearcats in the opening half. Jaylen White followed with nine points.[[In-content Ad]]