February 6, 2019 at 5:02 a.m.
Jay sets up showdown for ACAC title
Patriots beat Raiders, 61-34, meet Heritage for regular season championship on Friday
Jay sets up showdown for ACAC title
PONETO — The Patriots didn’t necessarily get the start they envisioned.
They won the tip, but missed their first seven shots of the game.
Before they knew it, they trailed 10-2.
Gabe Link kick-started an early rally and a pair of seniors helped put the game away.
Jay County High School’s boys basketball team overcame a slow start offensively to pull away for a lopsided win at the Raiderdome over the host Southern Wells Raiders, 61-34, on Tuesday.
It sets up a Friday showdown for the conference championship.
“Honestly we came out a little rough,” said JCHS senior Parker Grimes, who led all players with 18 points, a dozen of which came in the second half. “Then (coach Chris Krieg) put the subs in and they started getting rolling, so then it was like ‘All right, we have to get this going.’”
Jay County, which hadn’t played since its loss Jan. 26 to Blackford, improved to 12-6 and remained undefeated at 5-0 in Allen County Athletic Conference play. Tuesday’s win sets up a showdown with Jay County grad Adam Gray and his Heritage Patriot squad, which is also 5-0 in ACAC play. Heritage, which won back-to-back ACAC tournament championships, held off Norwell 48-46 on Tuesday for its eighth straight win to move to 14-2.
“After Blackford, it was good to get a win before we go back to the championship against Heritage,” Grimes said.
Southern Wells (7-10, 2-3 ACAC) got off to a good start as Thomas Biddle scored the team’s first five points to give the Raiders a 5-2 advantage. Will Pennington followed with a basket and a foul shot before converting a Kreigh Roush assist for a 10-2 Raider advantage with 3:35 to play in the opening quarter.
“I think when we got the tip we tried to force things offensively,” said Krieg. “We would take a decent shot in the paint, they’d get the rebound and they would just beat us down the floor the first two possessions.”
Biddle never scored the rest of the game. Dylan Junk led the Raiders with nine points.
Jay County didn’t get its first field goal until 20 seconds later, and with a 12-4 deficit, Ryan Schlechty helped the Patriots get in a rhythm. Schlechty kissed a jumper off the glass to make it 12-6, and Link followed with a pair of free throws. He then notched consecutive baskets, and the Patriots ended the period behind 13-12.
A Schlechty layup gave the Patriots a one-point lead, and they continued what turned out to be a 14-0 run. Grimes scored six straight in that span as the Patriots jumped out front 22-13.
Consecutive 3-pointers put Southern Wells within one possession, but it never got close the rest of the way.
Jay County, which led 31-22 at half and held Southern Wells to just six points in the third quarter, picked apart the Raiders’ zone defense while also dominating the glass. Thirteen of the Patriots’ 30 rebounds — they had a 31-22 margin overall — came on the offensive end. Grimes, who also scored eight consecutive points in the third quarter, had five of them.
“Parker was in the right position at the right time,” Krieg said. “He finished his shots. Parker played well inside.”
Grimes had said it was Krieg’s emphasis in practice recently to control the offensive rebounds.
Krieg noted Link’s perfect shooting from the field and the free-throw line to finish with eight points. He also praised his guard play for helping beat the Raider zone while also limiting turnovers. The Patriots had assists on 13 of their 27 made baskets and had a season-low seven give-aways.
“I felt like this was a great team effort,” Krieg said.
Ryan Schlechty was second on the team with a dozen points, and Michael Schlechty was one point behind while grabbing a game-high eight rebounds.
Junior varsity
Jay County dominated Southern Wells throughout on its way to a 52-23 triumph.
The Patriots (12-3, 4-1 ACAC) were out front 15-7 after the first quarter and went into halftime with a 32-11 lead. They added 20 points over the final two periods while holding the Raiders to a dozen during the same stretch.
Gavin Muhlenkamp scored all of his game-high 18 points in the first half, and Ethan Dirksen was second on the team with 10 points.
They won the tip, but missed their first seven shots of the game.
Before they knew it, they trailed 10-2.
Gabe Link kick-started an early rally and a pair of seniors helped put the game away.
Jay County High School’s boys basketball team overcame a slow start offensively to pull away for a lopsided win at the Raiderdome over the host Southern Wells Raiders, 61-34, on Tuesday.
It sets up a Friday showdown for the conference championship.
“Honestly we came out a little rough,” said JCHS senior Parker Grimes, who led all players with 18 points, a dozen of which came in the second half. “Then (coach Chris Krieg) put the subs in and they started getting rolling, so then it was like ‘All right, we have to get this going.’”
Jay County, which hadn’t played since its loss Jan. 26 to Blackford, improved to 12-6 and remained undefeated at 5-0 in Allen County Athletic Conference play. Tuesday’s win sets up a showdown with Jay County grad Adam Gray and his Heritage Patriot squad, which is also 5-0 in ACAC play. Heritage, which won back-to-back ACAC tournament championships, held off Norwell 48-46 on Tuesday for its eighth straight win to move to 14-2.
“After Blackford, it was good to get a win before we go back to the championship against Heritage,” Grimes said.
Southern Wells (7-10, 2-3 ACAC) got off to a good start as Thomas Biddle scored the team’s first five points to give the Raiders a 5-2 advantage. Will Pennington followed with a basket and a foul shot before converting a Kreigh Roush assist for a 10-2 Raider advantage with 3:35 to play in the opening quarter.
“I think when we got the tip we tried to force things offensively,” said Krieg. “We would take a decent shot in the paint, they’d get the rebound and they would just beat us down the floor the first two possessions.”
Biddle never scored the rest of the game. Dylan Junk led the Raiders with nine points.
Jay County didn’t get its first field goal until 20 seconds later, and with a 12-4 deficit, Ryan Schlechty helped the Patriots get in a rhythm. Schlechty kissed a jumper off the glass to make it 12-6, and Link followed with a pair of free throws. He then notched consecutive baskets, and the Patriots ended the period behind 13-12.
A Schlechty layup gave the Patriots a one-point lead, and they continued what turned out to be a 14-0 run. Grimes scored six straight in that span as the Patriots jumped out front 22-13.
Consecutive 3-pointers put Southern Wells within one possession, but it never got close the rest of the way.
Jay County, which led 31-22 at half and held Southern Wells to just six points in the third quarter, picked apart the Raiders’ zone defense while also dominating the glass. Thirteen of the Patriots’ 30 rebounds — they had a 31-22 margin overall — came on the offensive end. Grimes, who also scored eight consecutive points in the third quarter, had five of them.
“Parker was in the right position at the right time,” Krieg said. “He finished his shots. Parker played well inside.”
Grimes had said it was Krieg’s emphasis in practice recently to control the offensive rebounds.
Krieg noted Link’s perfect shooting from the field and the free-throw line to finish with eight points. He also praised his guard play for helping beat the Raider zone while also limiting turnovers. The Patriots had assists on 13 of their 27 made baskets and had a season-low seven give-aways.
“I felt like this was a great team effort,” Krieg said.
Ryan Schlechty was second on the team with a dozen points, and Michael Schlechty was one point behind while grabbing a game-high eight rebounds.
Junior varsity
Jay County dominated Southern Wells throughout on its way to a 52-23 triumph.
The Patriots (12-3, 4-1 ACAC) were out front 15-7 after the first quarter and went into halftime with a 32-11 lead. They added 20 points over the final two periods while holding the Raiders to a dozen during the same stretch.
Gavin Muhlenkamp scored all of his game-high 18 points in the first half, and Ethan Dirksen was second on the team with 10 points.
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