Schwieterman beats buzzer for win

CONNERSVILLE — Offensive rebounds had been plentiful all night long.
The Patriots got one when they needed it the most.
Scott Schwieterman’s offensive board and put-back at the buzzer Friday lifted the Jay County High School boys basketball team to a 38-36 victory over Connersville at the Spartan Bowl.
“I just saw the ball and went up with it because I knew we needed to get a score to win,” said Schwieterman, who rebounded and scored after Cade Price had a lay-up try blocked. “I was just hoping to get it off before time ran out. …
“It felt amazing. It was a huge relief. We didn’t play that well tonight.
“It’s an ugly win, but it’s a win.”
The Patriots led by as many as nine but found themselves locked in a tie game after Charles Peterson scored for Connersville with 1:18 remaining.
JCHS (7-2) decided to hold for the last shot and the Spartans (7-5) started to give fouls after committing just one in the first 14 minutes of the second half. The last of those fouls came with five seconds left, and after a timeout Brock McFarland passed the ball in from the left sideline to Kegan Comer.
The junior point guard drove to the left baseline, and as the defense collapsed on him he found Price making a back-door cut to the basket. Price, who stands 5-feet-8-inches, had his shot blocked, but the 6-foot-5-inch Schwieterman was there to grab the board and score the game-winning points.
“Scott did a great job making that play,” said Jay County coach Craig Teagle. “But who made that play (was) Kegan driving like we wanted and Cade stepping in on the back side, being in the right spot at the right time. It was just because of his size that he didn’t get the shot off cleanly … Scott did a great job of coming in and getting the O board.”
Although his final shot didn’t fall, Price was enormous for the Patriots on the offensive end all night long. His 3-pointer early in the second quarter gave JCHS its biggest lead — 13-4 — and he hit another triple early in the third. He finished 5-of-8 from the field overall and hit his only free-throw attempt to lead the team with a season-best 13 points.
“I shot a few threes tonight, and it felt good,” said Price. “I’ve been wanting to shoot more. I just thought I better get started.
“I looked up from the floor and just saw it go in,” he added of Schwieterman’s game-winner. “That was awesome.”
Schwieterman’s final offensive rebound was the last of 15 on the night. Jay County had eight offensive boards compared to just seven defensive for the Spartans.
Connersville also did well with seventh offensive rebounds.
Jay County built the lead early with Schwieterman scoring the game’s first four points and Price adding another four to extend to an 8-2 lead. The Patriots were up by nine after Price’s first triple and led by seven early in the final period before Connersville put together an 8-0 run to claim its first lead.
The teams traded the lead three times before Schwieterman, who joined Price in double figures with 10 points, finished off the Spartans.
The Patriots earned the victory despite committing a season-high 18 turnovers.
“When you have guys not playing all that well yet you find a way to win, I think it says a little bit about your defense, because defense keeps you in games,” said Teagle, whose team leads the state in defensive average. “And there must be mental toughness there, because we were not on our game tonight. …”
Brock McFarland followed his junior teammates with seven points, including a key 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer. Schwieterman grabbed five rebounds, and also had a pair of blocks.
Connersville got 10 points apiece from Peterson and Davis.

Junior varsity
The Patriots went scoreless for the first 2:59 of overtime, falling 25-24 to Connersville.
The Spartans scored the first points of the extra session on a steal and lay-up by Brice Proctor with 24 seconds left. They extended their lead to four points on a couple of Malik Coles foul shots, and JCHS scored its only points in the overtime on a Darren Bogenshutz 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.
Jacob Schlosser hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight points to lead Jay County. Zane Shreve added six points.
Coles racked up 15 points for the Spartans, and Cole Smith chipped in five.[[In-content Ad]]