Patriots cruise past Blackford

HARTFORD CITY — Defense has long been the Patriots’ calling card. So after giving up more than 40 points in back-to-back games for the first time this season, it was time to refocus on their target.
They did just that Saturday night, turning up the pressure on host Blackford. Jay County held the Bruins to single digits for the first 22 minutes, cruising to a 50-20 victory.
“I thought the kids came out and played more intensely and more consistently than what we have for a while,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose squad was coming off consecutive losses to Winchester and Centerville. “I’m proud of them. … We needed a bounce-back game.
“I don’t want to take anything away from our competition last weekend, those were two outstanding basketball teams, but I just didn’t feel like we had the focus and intensity level we needed in those games for the full 32 minutes. … Tonight I thought we did a good job, even when we got up, keeping that intensity level and not letting down …”
Jay County (8-5) held the Bruins scoreless for the first five-and-a-half minutes, grabbing a 6-0 lead and extending it to 11-2 by the end of the opening quarter. Blackford had just six points compared to 10 turnovers at halftime.
The Bruins (6-8) didn’t reach double digits until a Franklin Crist hoop with less than two minutes left in the third quarter.
The victory marked the fourth time this season that JCHS has held an opponent to fewer than 30 points in regulation, and the ninth time it has limited a foe to fewer than 40. The Patriots’ defensive average of 39 points per game is the best in Class 4A and ranks third in the state overall.
“What I thought we did better … was we took a lot of their strengths away,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose team gave up 29 points to Centerville’s Matt Schauss in its last outing. “We knew we couldn’t let (Grant Jones) go right. We didn’t want (Franklin Crist) to go baseline. … For the most part we took the baseline spin move away from him. … I thought we followed the scouting report a lot better this weekend than we did last weekend.”
Jay County has a 13-game winning streak over the Bruins and has won 23 of its 24 games, including tournament, at Blackford since the start of the 2002-03 season.
The latest win came with the Patriots using full-court defensive pressure from the opening tip.
“It’s a game-to-game thing,” said Teagle of the tactic. “I love full-court pressure. I’d just as soon press full court every game, every possession. But you’ve got to see who your opponent is, what kind of game they’re going to play …
“It’s something that we wanted to do tonight because we had a single-game weekend; they played a double. … We thought we needed to speed the game up so we got some easier baskets because we’ve struggled from the perimeter a little bit. The best way to get into the flow of offense is to get some lay-ups and push the ball in transition.”
Garrett Krieg buried four 3-pointers for the Patriots, who were ahead by double digits for most of the final three quarters, and led the way with 15 points. He has paced the team in scoring in two of its three games since he returned after missing four games because of a concussion.
“Garrett is a really good shooter,” Teagle said. “He’s got a short stroke. … he’s a guy we’ve got to get looks from the outside. … He hit a big one at the end of the half for us. …
“I don’t think last weekend his legs were completely back. I think they’re getting there …”
Kegan Comer added 10 points, and Brock McFarland had seven points to go along with team highs of five rebounds and three assists.
Crist’s eight points were the team high for Blackford.

Junior varsity
After rallying in the fourth quarter, Jay County managed just three points in two overtimes as it fell 38-34 to the Bruins.
The Patriots trailed by four in the fourth quarter before coming back to take a 31-29 lead, only to have Blackford’s Evan Van Gordon tie the score with a pair of free throws with 3.1 seconds left. Both teams scored two points in the first overtime, and the Bruins took the lead early in the second on the way to the win.
Kyle Selvey hit three 3-pointers for JCHS and scored a game-high 17 points. Jacobs Schlosser added eight points.
Kalup George finished with 12 points to lead Blackford. Matt Ellis added 10.
Wins by the Bruins in the JV and freshman games earned Blackford the trophy in the Cross County Lines Challenge for the first time since its inception in 2004.[[In-content Ad]]