Rebels rocked

The numbers were staggering.
The Patriots made more field goals than the Muncie Southside Rebels, despite having 40 fewer attempts.
Southside missed more than twice as many shots as JCHS attempted.
And the home team spent nearly 15 minutes of the game in the double bonus, outscoring the Rebels 28-6 from the foul line.
Jay County High School’s boys basketball team turned what was a close game at the half into a blowout Friday night, limiting Southside to just one field goal in the final 13 minutes on the way to a 62-36 victory.
“Jay’s got their normal club,” said Rebels coach Rick Baumgartner. “They’re smart. They’re hard-nosed. They’re sound at what they do. And they made us look bad.”
It was just the 11th win for the Patriots in 39 games against Southside, and snapped a three-game losing streak against their former Olympic Athletic Conference rival.
“It’s huge,” said JCHS sophomore Kegan Comer, who scored a game-high 16 points. “We’ve been preparing for it all week.
“It’s definitely a confidence booster. We need to carry this over for the next game.”
The shooting numbers were already heavily in the Patriots’ favor at the intermission, but they led by only five after scoring the final four points of the opening half. The lead remained at five points three minutes into the third quarter, and then Jay County went on a 24-2 run.
The Patriots (4-1) scored the final seven points of the third quarter and the first four of the fourth before Southside (1-2) broke a seven-minute scoring drought on a hoop by Terrance Johnson. That, however, would be its only field goal of the fourth quarter.
Cade Price hit a pair of free throws on the next JCHS possession, and then the Patriots ran more than a minute off the clock before Comer found Schwieterman underneath for an easy lay-up. They built the lead to 27 points before clearing the bench in the final minute.
“We knew that if we were aggressive, we’d get lay-ups,” said Patriot coach Craig Teagle. “We were going to get great shots if we were aggressive. If you get passive against them, you’re going to turn it over. …
“I’m happy for our kids, because … they got the lead, they continued to attack and they played smart.”
The result was a 70-percent (16-of-23) shooting effort for the Patriots, who never trailed, in which no player missed more than two field-goal attempts. They got to the free-throw line early and often — JCHS was in the double bonus with 7:46 on the clock in the second quarter and 6:55 showing in the fourth — and finished 28-of-37.
Comer and Brock McFarland (12 points) each hit eight foul shots, and Schwieterman was 4-for-4 at the line in a 14-point effort. Comer also had five assists.
“He was super focused last night at practice,” said Teagle of Comer. “He was focused when we talked to him tonight before the game. … I thought he carried that on.”
Garrett Krieg scored eight of his nine points in the first half. Schwieterman also had 13 rebounds to lead the Patriots to a 33-29 advantage on the glass, and notched five blocks.
Jay County was just as good on the defensive end, limiting the Rebels to just 21 percent (13-of-63) shooting. Southside launched 27 3-point attempts and went 1-of-28 from the field in the fourth quarter.
“Terrible. I’m as disappointed as I’ve been in a long, long time. I thought this club was going to be different,” said Baumgartner. “The reason we beat New Castle (in overtime Dec. 10) is because we had all kinds of hustle plays. … We didn’t even come close to playing with the same kind of intensity …
“I talked about complacency Monday. … And we went out there big-headed, without the same type of focus and intensity, and we got exactly what was coming to us.”
Johnson was the top scorer for the Rebels with eight points, and Myron Anthony had five points and six rebounds. Tim Barrett and Marcus Russull, who both had three fouls in the first half, and Doyle Wilson all fouled out.

Junior varsity
A double-digit lead slipped away for the Patriots, but they were still able to come away with a 42-36 victory over Southside.
Jay County led by 12 points in the second half, but the Rebels pulled to within two points in the final minute. The visitors had the ball with a chance to tie, but missed on the opportunity and Austin Cowan and Kyle Selvey hit four free throws for the Patriots to seal the win.
Trey Teagle led JCHS with 13 points, nine of which came in the first half. Selvey added 12 points, and Cowan scored eight.
Tristan Tilly paced Southside, which trailed by eight at the half, with 11 points. Ken Cleaves had 10 points, and Marvin Griffin finished with eight.[[In-content Ad]]