Semi showdown

Jay County won its first Class 4A sectional title in 2011.
Homestead ended a 10-year drought last season.
They entered tournament play this year with the top two records in Class 4A Sectional 6, but only one of them will have the chance to play for the championship Saturday.
The Patriots and Spartans will meet in the second of two semifinal games at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Huntington North.
“We know we’ll have to play extremely well,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle. “They have so many weapons. …
“They just have all the pieces you need to be a really good basketball team. … They’re just a hard match-up for us. It’s going to be one of those games where we’ll have to play extremely well.”
New Haven (15-5) and Wayne (13-8) will meet in the first semifinal game at 6 p.m., and the winners will advance to play for the championship at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Homestead went 23-3 last season, defeating Northrop in the regional semifinal round before falling 48-39 to eventual state champion Carmel in the regional title game. And it has continued its success this year.
The Spartans (17-6) have put together their sixth straight winning season and earned their spot in the sectional semifinals with a 59-33 win Tuesday over Huntington North. Their losses have come against opponents who are a combined 104-24, including second-ranked Munster (23-0).
Like JCHS, they have three players scoring in double figures with freshman post player Caleb Swanigan leading the way at 15.3 points per game while shooting nearly 60 percent from the field. Senior point guard Nick Gamble is right behind Swanigan at 15.1 points per game, and Trevor Osborn adds 11.6.
Swanigan averages a double-double as he also grabs 11.6 rebounds per game, and Gamble dishes out six assists per contest.
“They’re a really strong team,” said JCHS senior Tyler Back. “The Gamble kid, he’s extremely fast and a very good ball handler. He can get to the basket almost any time he wants. And then when he gets stopped he dishes to the big guy or one of the shooters and they finish for him. So they’re very lethal.”
Jay County (20-2) heads into tournament play on a 14-game winning streak, during which it won nine games by 20 or more points. Its only losses of the season came to Northrop (60-51) and No. 7 Cathedral (53-47) in the Hall of Fame Classic on Jan. 28.
The Spartans also fell to Northrop 75-66 on Feb. 19.
Brock McFarland, who broke the Patriots’ career-scoring record Friday, paces JCHS at 18 points per game. Scott Schwieterman adds 14 points and seven rebounds per game, and Kegan Comer averages 12.7 points and 4.4 assists.
Jay County leads Class 4A and is second in the state overall in defensive average, allowing just 35.2 points per game. It is also second in the state in average margin at 25.7.
“Defensively, they’re very strong with not allowing teams to get into the lane,” said Homestead coach Chris Johnson, who in June served as an assistant coach to Teagle for the Indiana All-Stars. “They make you beat them from the outside. They do a great job of closing out on shooters …
“They have a lot of varsity experience. ... We know it’s going to be a tough task for us.”
Although the teams do not play each other during the regular season, they have some familiarity.
Jay County defeated the Spartans 58-45 in the semifinal round on the way to its sectional crown in 2011. The teams met again this summer, with Homestead edging the Patriots in sudden-death overtime in the championship game of the Purdue Shootout.
And the JCHS players and coaches were in the stands Tuesday watching the Spartans dispatch Huntington North.
“It was basically what we saw in the summer too,” said Schwieterman. “So we’ve got a really good feel for what they’re going to do to us.
“They’ll try to pound the ball inside to try to get me and Tyler in foul trouble.
“They’ll spread us out to try to get mismatches … a big kid on a guard on the outside.”
Jay County has a chance to break two school records Friday.
It could surpass the mark for wins in a single-season set by the 2006 Class 3A state runner-up squad that finished 20-7. A victory would also give the team the longest winning streak in school history, breaking a tie with the 2007-08 team that won 14 in a row before falling to Marion in the sectional title game.
The Jay County players are also looking to back up their coach’s statement that they are the best team he has coached in 15 seasons with the Patriots.
“We mentioned it after the game to the kids on Friday night,” said Teagle of the team’s legacy. “You leave it open to debate who the best team is unless you do something about it and prove it. …
“If they could win another sectional they would have won two sectionals in the past three years, and at the 4A level, which we had not had much success at the 4A level before that. I think that would say a lot.”[[In-content Ad]]