December 16, 2018 at 5:12 a.m.
Williams welcomed in return
Williams welcomed in return
Copyright 2018, The Commercial Review
All Rights Reserved
Almost an hour had passed since his Black Raiders lost to the school for which he played.
Friends and family waited their turn to speak with Aaron Williams, to talk about the past and reminisce about the glory days: the 1987 sectional title and the upset of top-ranked Richmond a season later.
Earlier Saturday night, his Black Raiders from John I. Burton in Norton, Virginia, lost to Jay County, 49-28.
But for nearly an hour, the defeat was the furthest thing from his mind.
He caught up with former teammates, including Tony Overton, Dan Dirksen and Donnie Schlosser. His former coach and mentor, Mike Lederman, was also there.
He introduced them all to his wife, Heather, and three children — 18-year-old Caleb, Maggie, who is 16, and Sarah, 12.
It’s been more than two decades since the 1988 Jay County High School graduate had stepped on the court he called home for three seasons. In the 1990s, Williams coached for Winchester against the Patriots.
It had been longer since he got to see his former teammates and his old coach, and he was welcomed Saturday as if he had never left town.
“It’s great to have an opportunity to tell my coach from my high school days, to say ‘Hey coach, I appreciate you as a coach but I appreciate you more as a man,’” Williams said. “He was that kind of guy. I had the chance to do that today, so that means a lot to me because a lot of times we don’t take that opportunity.”
Jay County’s cheerleaders unveiled a banner during pregame warmups for Williams, who is 13th on the school’s career scoring list with 756 points. He was also given a banner from the team that included signatures on it.
“I just really appreciate everybody in Jay County and appreciate the support,” he said.
A night after beating Monroe Central 43-39 at Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, the Black Raiders (3-1) were able to take a 6-4 lead on Jay County (5-3) with back-to-back 3-pointers, the first of which came from Caleb Williams at the right wing.
Four more points from the coach’s son later in the period made it 10-7 Burton before a Parker Grimes 3-pointer and a Ryan Schlechty layup gave the Patriots a 12-10 lead at the end of the period.
Houston Thacker nailed a triple from the top of the arc as Burton jumped out front 13-12, but it never led again although a three-point play from Trevor Culberson later evened the score at 16 apiece.
A Landon Grimes basket on an assist from brother Parker and a Schlechty three-point play put Jay County back out front, 21-16. Trailing by three with five seconds remaining in the half, Burton turned the ball over and Parker Grimes swished a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer.
“We kind of lost the game there in the end of the first half,” Aaron Williams said. “We had a guy streaking about five seconds to go, big turnover and they hit a three.
“That was the turnaround I thought in the game.”
The Patriots carried that momentum over into the third quarter, during which they outscored the Black Raiders 17-7.
“Our biggest problem has been the third quarter and this is the first time all year long we’ve outscored someone by 10 points in the third quarter,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg.
It was a much-needed bounce back win for Jay County after a 20-point drubbing Friday night to Delta. Parker Grimes scored 13 points to follow his 20-point outburst the night before, and Schlechty also scored a baker’s dozen.
Jay County also had a 38-18 advantage on the glass over the undersized Burton team.
“I thought our defense, we had good intensity early but we kind of wore out a little bit,” Williams said.
Caleb Williams led the Black Raiders with nine points, all of which came in the first half. Zac Campbell and Thacker each had six points.
Junior varsity
Jay County gave up its lead in the second quarter but used a 13-8 margin in the third quarter on its way to a 38-24 victory over the Heritage Patriots.
The host Patriots (6-2) led 7-3 heading to the second quarter but were tied with Heritage at 18 going into half. But the third quarter is when Jay County grabbed the lead and held on down the stretch.
Landon Grimes and Gavin Muhlenkamp had eight points each for Jay County, which also got seven points from Ethan Dirksen and six from Gavin Lambert.
Freshman
Jay County never caught up from a first-quarter deficit as it dipped to .500 on the year with a 26-18 loss to Heritage.
A three-point margin at the end of the first period remained the same at intermission before Jay County was held without a point in the third. Heritage, meanwhile, built a 22-11 lead with one quarter to play and Jay County never caught up.
Adam Muhlenkamp’s eight points were tops for the host Patriots. Crosby Heniser tallied six points and Trenton Alexander contributed two points.
All Rights Reserved
Almost an hour had passed since his Black Raiders lost to the school for which he played.
Friends and family waited their turn to speak with Aaron Williams, to talk about the past and reminisce about the glory days: the 1987 sectional title and the upset of top-ranked Richmond a season later.
Earlier Saturday night, his Black Raiders from John I. Burton in Norton, Virginia, lost to Jay County, 49-28.
But for nearly an hour, the defeat was the furthest thing from his mind.
He caught up with former teammates, including Tony Overton, Dan Dirksen and Donnie Schlosser. His former coach and mentor, Mike Lederman, was also there.
He introduced them all to his wife, Heather, and three children — 18-year-old Caleb, Maggie, who is 16, and Sarah, 12.
It’s been more than two decades since the 1988 Jay County High School graduate had stepped on the court he called home for three seasons. In the 1990s, Williams coached for Winchester against the Patriots.
It had been longer since he got to see his former teammates and his old coach, and he was welcomed Saturday as if he had never left town.
“It’s great to have an opportunity to tell my coach from my high school days, to say ‘Hey coach, I appreciate you as a coach but I appreciate you more as a man,’” Williams said. “He was that kind of guy. I had the chance to do that today, so that means a lot to me because a lot of times we don’t take that opportunity.”
Jay County’s cheerleaders unveiled a banner during pregame warmups for Williams, who is 13th on the school’s career scoring list with 756 points. He was also given a banner from the team that included signatures on it.
“I just really appreciate everybody in Jay County and appreciate the support,” he said.
A night after beating Monroe Central 43-39 at Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, the Black Raiders (3-1) were able to take a 6-4 lead on Jay County (5-3) with back-to-back 3-pointers, the first of which came from Caleb Williams at the right wing.
Four more points from the coach’s son later in the period made it 10-7 Burton before a Parker Grimes 3-pointer and a Ryan Schlechty layup gave the Patriots a 12-10 lead at the end of the period.
Houston Thacker nailed a triple from the top of the arc as Burton jumped out front 13-12, but it never led again although a three-point play from Trevor Culberson later evened the score at 16 apiece.
A Landon Grimes basket on an assist from brother Parker and a Schlechty three-point play put Jay County back out front, 21-16. Trailing by three with five seconds remaining in the half, Burton turned the ball over and Parker Grimes swished a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer.
“We kind of lost the game there in the end of the first half,” Aaron Williams said. “We had a guy streaking about five seconds to go, big turnover and they hit a three.
“That was the turnaround I thought in the game.”
The Patriots carried that momentum over into the third quarter, during which they outscored the Black Raiders 17-7.
“Our biggest problem has been the third quarter and this is the first time all year long we’ve outscored someone by 10 points in the third quarter,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg.
It was a much-needed bounce back win for Jay County after a 20-point drubbing Friday night to Delta. Parker Grimes scored 13 points to follow his 20-point outburst the night before, and Schlechty also scored a baker’s dozen.
Jay County also had a 38-18 advantage on the glass over the undersized Burton team.
“I thought our defense, we had good intensity early but we kind of wore out a little bit,” Williams said.
Caleb Williams led the Black Raiders with nine points, all of which came in the first half. Zac Campbell and Thacker each had six points.
Junior varsity
Jay County gave up its lead in the second quarter but used a 13-8 margin in the third quarter on its way to a 38-24 victory over the Heritage Patriots.
The host Patriots (6-2) led 7-3 heading to the second quarter but were tied with Heritage at 18 going into half. But the third quarter is when Jay County grabbed the lead and held on down the stretch.
Landon Grimes and Gavin Muhlenkamp had eight points each for Jay County, which also got seven points from Ethan Dirksen and six from Gavin Lambert.
Freshman
Jay County never caught up from a first-quarter deficit as it dipped to .500 on the year with a 26-18 loss to Heritage.
A three-point margin at the end of the first period remained the same at intermission before Jay County was held without a point in the third. Heritage, meanwhile, built a 22-11 lead with one quarter to play and Jay County never caught up.
Adam Muhlenkamp’s eight points were tops for the host Patriots. Crosby Heniser tallied six points and Trenton Alexander contributed two points.
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