Strong on D

BLUFFTON — To say the Tigers shot poorly is an understatement.

Saying the Patriot defense was stout isn’t giving enough credit.

The Jay County High School boys basketball team held the Bluffton Tigers without a point for nearly 14 minutes Friday in a 39-18 victory to remain in the hunt for the Allen County Athletic Conference championship.

“By far, that wins us basketball games and loses us basketball games,” JCHS coach Chris Krieg said of his team on the defensive end of the floor. “Tonight was a prime example of defense winning us the basketball game.”

The win moves the Patriots to 9-6 on the year and 3-0 in ACAC play. Jay County is second in the conference standings to Heritage, which outlasted Adams Central 49-39 in double overtime to improve to 4-0.

“Right now I’m just proud of our kids defensively,” Krieg said.

Jay County led Bluffton (5-10, 1-4 ACAC) 13-7 at half after Jay County senior Cole Stigleman swished a jumper from near the right baseline, complete with a juggle as he went up for the shot.

Bluffton shot just 20 percent from the field in the first half, and didn’t fare much better after the break.

In the third quarter, the Tigers missed all eight shots and went without a point. Jay County, meanwhile, broke the game open with a 14-point quarter, as Wyatt Geesaman and Ryan Schlechty combined for nine. Geesaman first had a post move for his first points of the half, then the next trip down he scored on an inbound pass from Stigleman.

Schlechty then tallied five consecutive points to put the Patriots out front 24-7. He split a pair of free throws, went coast-to-coast after a steal and scored after a Stigleman assist.

Stigleman followed with a pair of free throws, and Michael Schlechty converted a layup and a foul shot to put the Patriots out front 29-7.

“The third quarter was a huge quarter for us on both sides of the floor,” Krieg said.

Parker Grimes had a basket and a foul shot to start the fourth quarter, completing a 17-0 run that began way back in the second.

Max Corle banked a shot from the right block off the glass with 5:11 to play to end Bluffton’s drought of more than 13 minutes without a point.

Stigleman led Jay County with nine points, and Ryan Schlechty followed with seven. Geesaman and Grimes finished with five apiece, as Schlechty grabbed a game-high five rebounds.

Corle entered the game averaging 12.2 points per game, and he led the Tigers with just eight. Johnathan Irwin, who was averaging 11.4 points per game, didn’t score. He missed all six of his shots — they were all from long range — as the Tigers were 8-of-33 from the field (24.2 percent), including a 1-for-16 effort from behind the arc.

“I felt like we did a good job contesting shots,” said Krieg.

The first quarter was a glimpse of things to come later on as Jay County jumped out to an 8-0 lead thanks to baskets from Holton Hill and Ryan Schlechty, a Stigleman 3-pointer and a Michael Schlechty free-throw.

Meanwhile the Tigers missed their first seven shots of the game and got their first bucket as Corle put back his own miss with 1:13 to play.

It took more than three minutes into the second quarter for either team to score. Jay County and Bluffton traded baskets, albeit two apiece, over the course of nearly two minutes.

Bluffton got as close as five, 13-7, after Cole McConnell had a layup in the paint on a Corle assist with 2:50 to play before half.

The Tigers didn’t score again for 13:39.



Junior varsity

Jay County got within one possession in the final minute but lost to Bluffton, 47-41.

The Patriots (8-4) led 16-10 after the first quarter and saw the lead shrink to 22-19 at half. Bluffton took a 34-31 lead into the fourth quarter, and with a minute to play JCHS was as close as three points, 42-39.

Gabe Link was the only Patriot to reach double figures as he finished with 10 points. Gavin Randall was second on the team with nine points, and Xavier Ninde contributed eight points. Brayden Mock added five points.



C team

Like its junior varsity counterparts, Jay County’s C team had a rough third quarter in a 38-28 loss to Bluffton.

Jay County (3-7) rallied from a 10-7 deficit after the first quarter to tie the game at 16 heading into halftime. But Bluffton scored 14 points in the third quarter as Jay County managed just three points.

Brian Williams led Jay County with nine points and Sheldon Upp was second with six points. Peyton Nichols scored five points while Gavin Lambert and Conner Tout had three points apiece.