Handled by Huskies

NEW CASTLE — The Huskies’ defense made things difficult early.

Their long-range shooting was on point from the start.

And peppered throughout, the Patriots just couldn’t get back on defense in time.

Hamilton Heights was better than 40 percent from beyond the arc and was more than a few steps quicker in transition in handing the Jay County High School boys basketball team a season-ending 70-44 loss in the Class 3A Sectional 24 semifinal Friday at New Castle Fieldhouse.

“All around, they are just quicker than us,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg, whose team ended the year 7-16, the program’s first losing record since the 2000-01 team was 5-16. “Their five guys on the floor were quicker than my five.

“What hurt us, young group of kids, biggest game they’ve ever played in. And we started the game turning the ball over. We didn’t relax and play the game. We just turned it over too much, especially in the first half.”

Hamilton Heights advances to the sectional final tonight against defending sectional champion Delta, which beat Yorktown 39-29 in the second semifinal Friday night.

Gus Etchison started the game with a 3-pointer from the top of the key – a sign of things to come for the Huskies.

The Patriots turned the ball over on five of their first eight possessions, and after a pair of Husky threes and fast-break buckets from both Etchison and Issiac Hickok, Hamilton Heights led 10-2.

“We wanted to try to control the tempo of this game,” Krieg said. “But when you would turn it over so quick, they shoot layups, you’re playing catch-up and you’re going to play their style of game.

“That hurt us.”

More fast-break buckets put the Huskies out front 16-6 at the end of the first, and they began to pull away in the second quarter with long-distance shots.

Lucas Letsinger twice hit 3-pointers, with Camron Knott and Etchison each hitting one. Letsinger, who was 4-of-5 from the 3-point line, finished with 16 points.

Etchison, the game’s leading scorer with 22 points — he entered averaging 25.2 points per game — was 4-of-9 from the arc. He also had three quick buckets in the first quarter and assisted on Letsinger’s two treys in the second period.

“We had to pick our poison because when Etchison gets into the paint he is so deadly,” said Krieg, whose team trailed 36-19 at half. “He is going to shoot 90 percent or he is going to kick to the open three.

“I felt like we did a pretty good job for the most part of keeping him out of there, but he just hit those open shooters.”

Hamilton Heights made 11 of its 26 attempts (42.3 percent) from the 3-point line and was 25-of-49 (51 percent) from the field.

Knott did most of his damage during a two-minute stretch in the third quarter. He made all four of his free throws and scored on a fast break that put Hamilton Heights ahead 47-23.

Jay County’s Ethan Dirksen put back a Patriot miss, and Brayden Sprunger made a jumper from the right elbow with 2:05 remaining in the third to make it 47-27, but Jay County was unable to break the 20-point threshold the rest of the way.

Sprunger, one of four JCHS seniors who had their careers come to a close, scored eight of his team-best 13 points in the second half. Dirksen had just as many after halftime to finish with a dozen points.

No other Patriot had more than five points as they were 16-of-39 (41 percent) from the floor, including a 3-of-11 effort from behind the arc.

“I’m proud of our kids,” Krieg said. “This was a fun year. One thing we never had to tell these kids was ‘Work hard.’ It was just their mentality. They’ve gave us everything they had night in and night out.

“They are a fun group. The wins are going to come. People talk about it’s all about winning. Well no it’s not. It’s all about character, and our kids have great character this year.

“Sometimes you get beat by a better team. The kids we wanted to have hit shots, they hit the shots for them.”