November 27, 2019 at 4:39 p.m.
Sparkling start
Young Jay County squad scores 24 first-quarter points en route to season-opening win over the Hagerstown Tigers
Sparkling start
The Patriots wanted to push the pace.
They wanted to be more aggressive on offense.
Those goals got checked off in a hurry.
The Jay County High School boys basketball team came out firing in Tuesday’s season opener, racking up 24 first-quarter points and burying the Hagerstown Tigers in a hole they never threatened to escape.
“That’s huge momentum,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg after his team’s 54-38 victory. “If you can come out in the first quarter and build a lead and play with a ton of confidence, that will get you through the game.”
The Patriots (1-0) wasted no time in going on the attack as Brayden Sprunger hit a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the game. After a Branton Payne hoop on the other end, Sprunger connected from long distance again off of an assist from Gavin Muhlenkamp.
“Not even playing varsity my last three years, I was kind of nervous at first. But once you get warming up, hearing the band play … it just kind of comes to you,” said Sprunger. “It felt good to get the crowd into it … just getting that tempo going.”
The early triples provided the spark before Noah Arbuckle and Ethan Dirksen took over. The duo combined to score 14 consecutive JCHS points, including a 12-0 run that put the home team up 20-7, with each contributing a three-point play. Dirksen got his from long distance on a pass from Sprunger while Arbuckle, the team’s only player with significant varsity experience, converted his the old fashioned way.
The Patriots were up by 16 at the quarter break after shooting 8-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-4 from long distance.
“We moved the ball,” said Krieg. “We shot the ball extremely well. We got good looks. We didn’t really force anything. And that’s key.”
While Jay County wasn’t able to sustain that offensive efficiency throughout, the first-quarter explosion of points was more than enough to carry it through. It was still up by 13 at halftime and then scored the first six points of the third quarter, going up 38-19 on Sprunger’s fourth 3-pointer of the game. A 9-0 run capped by back-to-back Bennett Weitzel put-back buckets extended the advantage to 24 points before Hagerstown closed the gap in the final six minutes.
“The first two minutes we thought were going to be key,” said Hagerstown coach Chad Romack. “We had to get off to a good start. And we were down 24-8 after the first.
“I thought we played them pretty even the rest of the way. You just can’t dig yourself that big of a hole early.”
Sprunger’s long-distance prowess — he finished 4-of-6, including one from deep on the left wing at the 5:18 mark of the second quarter — led him to a game-high 16 points. (The Patriots averaged just two triples per game last season.)
Arbuckle shot 5-of-8 from the field and added three free throws for 13 points, and Dirksen, a sophomore, also reached double figures with 10 points. Gavin Lambert, another sophomore, added nine points to go along with a game-high eight rebounds that powered a 40-24 advantage on the glass.
While the early offense provided the highlights, Jay County’s defense also stifled the Tigers. The visitors shot just 13-of-48 (27 percent) from the field.
Payne’s team-best 11 points for Hagerstown came on 5-of-14 shooting.
While most of the Patriots had little or no varsity playing time before Tuesday, Krieg pointed out that most of them were part of last season’s junior varsity team that lost just five games.
“So these kids know how to play the game,” he said. “They just don’t have the varsity experience.”
Junior varsity
Jay County controlled the fourth quarter in what was a close game throughout to earn a 44-38 victory.
The Patriots were up by just three with two minutes to play, but pushed it to five and then got one free throw apiece from Adam Muhlenkamp and Jaron Alexander to seal the win. They outscored Hagerstown 14-6 in the final seven minutes.
Muhlenkamp racked up 19 points, eight of which came in the third quarter, to lead JCHS. Crosby Heniser and Alexander each added six points.
Kadence Roman scored all of his team-high 15 points for the Tigers from 3-point range.
They wanted to be more aggressive on offense.
Those goals got checked off in a hurry.
The Jay County High School boys basketball team came out firing in Tuesday’s season opener, racking up 24 first-quarter points and burying the Hagerstown Tigers in a hole they never threatened to escape.
“That’s huge momentum,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg after his team’s 54-38 victory. “If you can come out in the first quarter and build a lead and play with a ton of confidence, that will get you through the game.”
The Patriots (1-0) wasted no time in going on the attack as Brayden Sprunger hit a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the game. After a Branton Payne hoop on the other end, Sprunger connected from long distance again off of an assist from Gavin Muhlenkamp.
“Not even playing varsity my last three years, I was kind of nervous at first. But once you get warming up, hearing the band play … it just kind of comes to you,” said Sprunger. “It felt good to get the crowd into it … just getting that tempo going.”
The early triples provided the spark before Noah Arbuckle and Ethan Dirksen took over. The duo combined to score 14 consecutive JCHS points, including a 12-0 run that put the home team up 20-7, with each contributing a three-point play. Dirksen got his from long distance on a pass from Sprunger while Arbuckle, the team’s only player with significant varsity experience, converted his the old fashioned way.
The Patriots were up by 16 at the quarter break after shooting 8-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-4 from long distance.
“We moved the ball,” said Krieg. “We shot the ball extremely well. We got good looks. We didn’t really force anything. And that’s key.”
While Jay County wasn’t able to sustain that offensive efficiency throughout, the first-quarter explosion of points was more than enough to carry it through. It was still up by 13 at halftime and then scored the first six points of the third quarter, going up 38-19 on Sprunger’s fourth 3-pointer of the game. A 9-0 run capped by back-to-back Bennett Weitzel put-back buckets extended the advantage to 24 points before Hagerstown closed the gap in the final six minutes.
“The first two minutes we thought were going to be key,” said Hagerstown coach Chad Romack. “We had to get off to a good start. And we were down 24-8 after the first.
“I thought we played them pretty even the rest of the way. You just can’t dig yourself that big of a hole early.”
Sprunger’s long-distance prowess — he finished 4-of-6, including one from deep on the left wing at the 5:18 mark of the second quarter — led him to a game-high 16 points. (The Patriots averaged just two triples per game last season.)
Arbuckle shot 5-of-8 from the field and added three free throws for 13 points, and Dirksen, a sophomore, also reached double figures with 10 points. Gavin Lambert, another sophomore, added nine points to go along with a game-high eight rebounds that powered a 40-24 advantage on the glass.
While the early offense provided the highlights, Jay County’s defense also stifled the Tigers. The visitors shot just 13-of-48 (27 percent) from the field.
Payne’s team-best 11 points for Hagerstown came on 5-of-14 shooting.
While most of the Patriots had little or no varsity playing time before Tuesday, Krieg pointed out that most of them were part of last season’s junior varsity team that lost just five games.
“So these kids know how to play the game,” he said. “They just don’t have the varsity experience.”
Junior varsity
Jay County controlled the fourth quarter in what was a close game throughout to earn a 44-38 victory.
The Patriots were up by just three with two minutes to play, but pushed it to five and then got one free throw apiece from Adam Muhlenkamp and Jaron Alexander to seal the win. They outscored Hagerstown 14-6 in the final seven minutes.
Muhlenkamp racked up 19 points, eight of which came in the third quarter, to lead JCHS. Crosby Heniser and Alexander each added six points.
Kadence Roman scored all of his team-high 15 points for the Tigers from 3-point range.
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