Season ends in OT

MARION - The Patriots put together one comeback. A second wasn't in the cards.

After rallying from a 10-point deficit to force overtime Tuesday, the Jay County High School boys basketball team gave up the first five points of the extra session. It never got closer than three points in the rest of the way in its Class 4A sectional opener against Fort Wayne North Side in a 70-66 loss to the Archers.

Freshman Brock McFarland forced the overtime when he tied the game with eight seconds left, but a 3-pointer from JaMarcus Smith just 11 seconds into overtime gave North Side the lead for good.

"It took the wind right out of our sails," said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose team finished at 10-9 for its ninth straight winning season. "The kid hit a tough shot. It was a ... back-away, pull-up three with Brock right on him. ... But it goes in. Brock did a great job defending it. It's just one of those things."

Jalen Magee scored for the Redskins (8-13) to follow the triple from Smith (26 points) to push the lead to five. Jay County's only hoop in the first 2:54 of overtime came from Josh Beaty off of a steal by Brad Horn as North Side built a 65-58 advantage.

The Patriots never got within a single possession again, trailing by seven before Garrett Krieg hit a 3-pointer late for the final margin.

Smith scored half of his team's 14 overtime points.

"We found a way to his some key shots at the beginning of the overtime that really gave us that buffer, that lead, that cushion," said North Side coach Michael Novell. "And then they were fighting from behind. ... They hit a couple of 3-point shots, but that's not necessarily their forte.

"Once it got into overtime and they got sped up again, that was going to be tough on us."

Jay County controlled the early part of the game, taking the lead on a Brad Horn 3-pointer and building a 13-5 advantage. They were still up by eight late in the first quarter before a 3-pointer from D.J. Neal followed by a put-back from Smith closed the gap.

Those hoops started the Redskins on a 19-4 run on the way to a 35-25 lead.

The Patriots closed to within six at the end of the third quarter, and then scored the first five points of the fourth. They finally pulled even when McFarland came up with a steal and score with 1:32 left after North Side tried to hold the ball.

Andy Bachman put the Redskins back on top with a baseline hoop with 1:13 to go. Each team missed another scoring opportunity before McFarland tied the game on a put-back bucket with 11.4 seconds left.

"I like the fact that we continued to battle when we got down," said Teagle. "We went through times when I felt like the wind was taken out of our sails ... and then all of a sudden we'd bounce back.

"We kept fighting. We kept battling. I thought some of our young kids got great experience on the sectional floor tonight."

Smith, who buried a 3-pointer from just inside half court at the first-half buzzer, nailed four triples for the game as he led North Side. He also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Neal added 15 points, and Josh Hagelberger had 11 points and three assists. Magee finished with seven rebounds.

"He took some shots he probably shouldn't have, and hit some shots he probably shouldn't have," said Novell of Smith. "Even though it was fairly ugly and fairly sloppy with a lot of errors, we found a way to get it done. I guess that's the most important thing."

Eric Homan turned in a double-double to power the Patriots in the final game of his career.

He scored 14 of his team-high 22 points in the second half to lead the JCHS rally, and also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

"Eric Homan had an incredible career for us," said Teagle. "He was a senior leader. ... He's one of the most coach-able kids I've ever had. Whatever you ask Eric Homan to do, he was going to do it."

McFarland added 12 points and eight rebounds, and Krieg scored eight of his 12 points in the final 1:06 of overtime.

Horn had 10 points and three assists, Beaty finished with seven points and three rebounds and Adam Daniels also grabbed three boards.

"The thing I like about Brad is he's like the energizer bunny," said Teagle in complimenting his senior class. "He was always moving, hands active, feet active, always getting his nose into plays.

"Josh Beaty was undersized all year as a 5-10 post man. He just did what he could do underneath. ... I thought the last two games he played (well), he attacked.

"Adam Daniels, we're so happy he came out for the team. He's just an outstanding young man. He was all about team. He didn't care if he played a minute. He just wanted to be part of the team and make us better."[[In-content Ad]]