Jay Co. rolls in second half

DECATUR — For 16 minutes, a three-win team stayed right with the Patriots.
In the final 16, they turned the game into a blowout.
Jay County High School’s boys basketball team ripped off the first eight points of the second half to erase a two-point deficit. It added a 10-0 run later in the third quarter as part of a dominant second half in its 58-36 blowout of the host Bellmont Braves.
Bellmont (3-19) had taken a 25-23 lead into halftime thanks to a strong second quarter, but it didn’t last.
Kyler Carvel scored the first points after the intermission with a couple of free throws to pull the Patriots even. Jay Houck then slashed to the basket to earn two foul shots of his own — he hit them as part of his 9-of-10 effort from the line — and scored again on a layup off an assist from Carvel.
Bellmont coach John Baker called a timeout, but it did no good.
On the ensuing possession, Carvel came up with a steal that led to an Adam Dirksen hoop. And after a Ryan Okoniewski basket gave the Braves a glimmer of hope, Jay County (17-6) put its foot down.
Ten straight points, including two Carvel 3-pointers and a Dirksen dunk off an assist from his senior teammate, extended the Patriots’ lead to double figures.
“We have to make the runs. It’s a game of momentum,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg, whose team had three runs of eight points or more in the second half. “I felt like they had it pretty much the whole first half. The second half, we had it.”
Carvel and Dirksen, who also connected for an alley-oop dunk in the opening quarter, each finished with 16 points to lead Jay County as it finished the regular season at 17-6. Carvel dished out a game-high six assists, and Dirksen notched three blocks.
Houck was right behind his teammates with 15 points to go along with seven rebounds, two blocks and two assists.
The scoring runs were made possible by improved defense. After allowing the Braves to shoot 45 percent from the field in the first half, JCHS held them to just 3-of-21 (14 percent) from the field in the second.
“Our biggest problem in the first half was defensively we gambled ourselves out of position,” said Krieg. “We try to go for a steal and don’t get it, then all of a sudden we’ve got to help … and we leave someone wide open … Defensively we just got out of position way too many times.
“I felt defense-wise in the second half we played a lot smarter. We kept the ball in front. We contested the threes. And we boxed out really well. ... In the second half we came out and we were focused and did what we had to do.”
One of Bellmont’s three makes in the second half came from team manager Logan Rhoades, who has Down Syndrome. Rhoades, who was introduced as part of the starting lineup, entered the game late in the fourth quarter and scored on his second shot attempt on an assist from fellow senior Jake Hall.
Trace Bauer hit a pair of 3-pointers for Braves as he led the way in scoring with eight points. Hall followed with six, and Ben Fullenkamp had four rebounds and three assists.
Jay County, which is in the midst of its 15th straight winning season, will open tournament play at 6 p.m. Tuesday when it plays Fort Wayne South Side at Huntington North. It defeated the Archers 58-55 on Feb. 4.

Junior varsity
A desperation attempt from beyond half court swished through the basket for the Patriots, but it came just a little too late as they fell 31-28 to Bellmont in overtime.
The Braves, who scored the first five points of overtime and led by three, lost control off the ball as they attempted to get it in bounds with 2.5 seconds left. Ryan Schlechty of Jay County tracked it down in front of the Bellmont student section, turned and launched a shot, but it came about a half-second after the buzzer.
Schlechty had four of his team-high nine points in overtime. His twin brother Michael Schlechty and Max Moser each added six points.
Brady Manis matched the game high with nine points for the Braves. Luke Strickler followed with eight points, and Lucas Strickler and Jordan Fuelling each had seven.

Freshman
Jay County mounted a fourth-quarter rally, but came up short in a 43-42 loss to the Braves.
The Patriots dug an early deficit as they fell behind 13-8 in the opening period. They were still down by five heading into the fourth quarter, and their comeback fell one point short.
Corey Miller’s 16 points for Bellmont were a game high. Aaron Lehrman joined him in double figures with 10.
Parker Grimes totaled 13 points to lead the Patriots. Matt Franks added eight points, and Korbin Auker scored seven.