Magic fades vs. Norwell

The Patriots have had their fair share of magic at home this year.

Back-to-back comeback wins in overtime over Fort Recovery and Muncie Central in December prove as much. But there was no abracadabra left for them on senior night.

After leading throughout the first half, Jay County High School’s boys basketball team made just two field goals in the second as it fell 47-39 to the visiting Norwell Knights.

“Obviously if you score two field goals in the second half, you’re going to struggle,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg, whose team suffered its fourth consecutive loss.

The Patriots (12-9) rolled out to a nine-point lead, were up seven midway through the second quarter and still had a five-point lead at halftime. But once they fell behind in the third quarter, they would never reclaim the advantage.

Norwell (12-9) scored the first five points in the second half and pulled ahead with 1:53 to go in the third quarter. JCHS evened the score when Jason Schlosser split a pair of free throws 21 seconds later, but Cody Shively gave the Knights the lead for good prior to the quarter break.

Despite their shooting woes, and losing leading scorer Jay Houck for about three minutes of the fourth quarter because of a twisted left ankle, the Patriots still trailed by just three after Ryan Schlechty came up with a steal and layup with 1:22 to go. However, the home team would not score again, and Norwell shot 5-of-6 from the foul line down the stretch.

Jay County went ice cold and finished 2-of-18 shooting (11 percent) in the second half after hitting for 53 percent in the first.

“It’s a tale of two halves,” said Krieg, whose team has dropped games to Heritage, Leo, Homestead and the Knights since topping Fort Wayne South Side on Feb. 2. “I’m disappointed in the fact that, OK, we missed a couple of shots inside, and then all of a sudden we start jacking up threes … You’ve just got to keep attacking. All of a sudden we went from being a two-point shooting team to a three-point shooting team. And, law of averages, we’re not going to win that battle.”

Norwell coach Mike McBride tried a variety of defenses — full court press, man-to-man, half-court trap, 2-3 zone — against the Patriots in the first half, trying to find a way to slow them down. He ended up deciding on the 2-3 zone, tweaking it slightly at halftime in an effort to keep the Patriots out of the paint.

“We were able to make that adjustment defensively at halftime in our 2-3 … and after the first couple possessions … I just thought it was real effective,” said McBride, whose team halted a four-game skid. “They just were not as comfortable going against it as they were our man-to-man.”

Meanwhile, Norwell attacked the basket with Cody Shively and Cole Wilson, who finished with 15 and 13 points respectively. Freshman Will Geiger added another 12 points, including a 4-for-4 effort at the foul line in the final minute.

Geiger also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds for the Knights, who had 17-7 advantage on the glass over the final 16 minutes.

Houck and Cole Stigleman reached double figures for the Patriots with 13 and 11 points respectively, but neither made a field goal after the intermission. Jason Schlosser added seven points.



Junior varsity

Jay County overcame a slow start and fought off the Knights for a 36-33 victory.

The Patriots trailed by seven after the opening period, but pulled ahead in the third quarter, thanks in part to Korbin Auker’s two 3-pointers, and held on for the win.

Xavier Ninde, who scored five points in the fourth quarter, and Auker shared the scoring lead with nine points apiece.

Landon Geiger matched Ninde and Auker with nine points for Norwell.



Freshman

Gabe Link led a rally in the fourth quarter but it came up just short as the Patriots fell, 49-47.

Jay County (5-12) trailed by eight heading into the final quarter before closing the gap on the Knights. Link scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, but it was not quite enough.

Brayden Sprunger, Gavin Lambert and Payton Nichols each added six points for the Patriots.