Two-minute drill

WINCHESTER — The Patriots played essentially even with their hosts for 22 minutes.

It only took two minutes for the game to get away from them.

The Winchester Golden Falcons closed the third quarter on a 13-1 run to take control Tuesday night as they handed the Jay County High School boys basketball team a 54-38 defeat.

“The third quarter determined the game,” said JCHS coach Jerry Bomholt. “We’re down one. We’re one possession away from going where we want to go with it. And then next thing you know, boom, boom, boom.”

The Patriots (7-9) were down by just one with two minutes left in the third quarter when sophomore guard Jamison Beshears hit a 3-pointer to start the Winchester run. Payton Sparks, who stands 6 feet, 10 inches and has signed to play for Ball State University, followed with a steal and dunk, and then slipped a no-look pass from the free throw line to Cooper McCoy on the left block for a 37-29 lead.

After Josh Dowlen hit a free throw for JCHS, Sparks assisted on two more 3-pointers. The first came from Brooks Burelison in on the left wing and the second from Paul Welch in the left corner as time expired in the period.

“We were attacking and started hitting some shots there, which really made a difference,” said Winchester coach Dustin Baldwin, whose team was coming off of back-to-back losses to Bishop Luers and Class 2A No. 10 Northeastern. “The ball never really stuck in that end of the third and all of the fourth. We were attacking gaps and just really, really playing team ball and stepping up and hitting some shots.”

The Patriots were able to get back to within eight points, but then went scoreless for the final three minutes of the game.

Burelison lit up the Jay County from the outside, pouring in seven 3-pointers for his game-high 21 points. Beshears added three as Winchester shot 11-of-24 from long distance to to outscore the visitors 33-3 from beyond the arc.

“We’ve been waiting on Brooks to come out of the slump,” said Baldwin of the senior who was 7-of-15 from long distance. “Hopefully that happened tonight. Hopefully he’s got his confidence back going into the tournament.”

Sparks, who had a pair of dunks, followed with 10 points. He also snagged a game-high 15 rebounds and had four assists, with his passing one of the key factors in the game-changing, third-quarter run.

Most of the first three quarters was a back-and-forth affair, with the lead changing hands seven times. Winchester’s largest advantage during that stretch was seven points while the Patriots were never up by more than two.

The Golden Falcons denied Jay County, which was coming off consecutive wins over Norwell and Seton Catholic, the opportunity to even its regular-season record. The Patriots will close out the regular season at home Friday against Bellmont. The goal for that game, Bomholt said, will be to limit errors that can erase a team’s opportunity to win.

“You can’t have five or six things happen in a game that you’re doing wrong. You can have one and maybe overcome it,” said Bomholt. “But when you don’t make your free throws and you don’t take care of the ball, give up defensively crucial threes at crucial times, when you put that together in one game you don’t stand much of a chance.”



Junior varsity

Jay County saw its double-digit lead slip away but turned in a strong fourth quarter for a 51-42 victory over the Golden Falcons.

The Patriots (9-7) roared out to a 12-point lead by scoring 18 in the opening period. They were up 25-13 at halftime before Winchester poured in 21 third-quarter points to get back in the game. The visitors, however, were able to close out the win with a 15-8 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Blake Bogenschutz racked up 17 points to lead JCHS and Brady Davis joined him in double figures with 14. Gavin Myers added eight points.

Kamden Preston tallied 13 points to pace the Golden Falcons. Jamison Beshears followed with 11.