Schwieterman leads Patriots

HUNTINGTON — Scott Schwieterman loves tournament time.
He played by far the best basketball of his sophomore season during the tournament as the Patriots won their first Class 4A sectional title. And he was back at it again Tuesday.
The junior forward more than doubled his season averages, dominating the paint to the tune of 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead Jay County to a 49-36 victory over New Haven in the opening round of the sectional tournament at Huntington North.
“He was a beast,” said JCHS junior Brock McFarland of his classmate. “That’s what we’ve been wanting him to do all year. … He was ready to go tonight. … He definitely tore it up.”
Schwieterman, who entered the game averaging 9.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, kept the Patriots (18-3) close in the first half when McFarland was struggling to score and Kegan Comer was stuck on the bench because of foul trouble.
He had 10 points and eight boards as Jay County trailed by five at the intermission.
And after the Patriots got off to a hot start in the second half, New Haven (17-4) couldn’t keep up.
Schwieterman scored the first hoop of the third quarter, and then Comer followed with a three-point play to tie the game just 1:30 into the second half. McFarland came up with a steal on the ensuing Bulldog possession and then scored on the other end, and Tyler Back hit a hoop on an assist from Schwieterman to cap a 10-0 run that gave JCHS the lead for good.
“I’m excited,” said Schwieterman, who averaged 13.7 points and 7.3 rebounds during last season’s sectional run, including 18 points and nine boards in the championship game. “I’m still kind of in shock. … We got a huge win. That’s a huge win for us.”
New Haven closed to within two at the end of the third quarter, but the Patriots responded. They scored the first six points of the final period, with a Schwieterman hoop at the 5:15 mark sending the Jay County fans into a frenzy and forcing a Bulldog timeout.
Schwieterman added a pair of free throws a minute later to match his career high of 19 points. His 13 rebounds led the Patriots to a 36-32 advantage on the glass, and he also had two blocks and an assist.
“Scott Schwieterman was great,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle. “He kept posting up, kept going hard to the rim. He played exceptionally well. He was solid all night and we really needed that. We needed the post established, and it didn’t only get established, it looked like to me he dominated.”
While Schwieterman carried the offense, Jay County set the tone with its team defense in the second half. It held the Bulldogs scoreless for the first 6:10 of the third quarter and limited them to just two field goals after the intermission.
New Haven shot just 9-of-50 (18 percent) overall, with Notre Dame-bound junior V.J. Beachem struggling to a 3-of-18 mark. Jabar Ray led the team with 11 points, and Beachem scored 10.
It was by far the lowest scoring output of the season for the Bulldogs, who were averaging nearly 70 points per game. Their previous low this year was 49 points in a loss to Norwell, and they hadn’t been held to as few as 36 since falling 45-35 to Columbia City on Dec. 29, 2009.
“We picked it up defensively definitely,” said McFarland of what turned the game in the second half. “We stepped it up. We were being a little lazy in the first half. … Then our defense led to some offense. It worked out pretty well.”
New Haven’s second field goal of the second half closed the gap to 36-31 with five minutes to play, but Schwieterman hit a couple of free throws to extend the lead again. And after a timeout, Comer found McFarland on a clean break to the basket on an inbound pass for a layup that proved to be the back-breaker.
“It was just a miscommunication on their part really,” said Comer. “Brock just cut and they didn’t really do anything about it so he had a wide open layup.”
Comer scored 10 of his 14 points at the foul line, including a 9-of-10 effort in the final 2:34 to seal the game. Those included four in a row at the 1:06 mark after Beachem was hit with a technical foul.
The victory sends the Patriots to the semifinal round Friday at 6 p.m., when they will take on Wayne (8-11) for the second time in three weeks. Huntington North (5-18) won Tuesday’s other opening-round game 60-50 over Fort Wayne South Side and will play No. 9 Homestead (20-2) in Friday’s second semifinal game.
Jay County won the regular-season meeting 60-44 over Wayne behind 34 points from McFarland.
“It’s a good win,” said Teagle of the tournament-opening victory. “But that win really is over with because our goal is to try to repeat as the sectional champion.
“I hope (the kids) are happy about it tonight, but tomorrow we have to get back to work.”[[In-content Ad]]