Defense stifles Tigers

Jerry Bomholt is a believer that a good defense can make up for a lackluster offense.

His Patriots proved why Friday.

Jay County High School’s boys basketball team, which was playing its first game in 20 days, wasn’t at its best with the ball in its hands but created fits for the Bluffton Tigers in a 41-31 win.

“Did 20 days have something to do with it?” Bomholt, Jay County’s coach, asked rhetorically. “I don’t like excuses, but when you don’t play for 20 days, you’re not going to be sharp. We weren’t.

“The one thing I emphasized to the kids after the game is they are starting to become a really hard team to play against.”

Bluffton coach Karl Grau, who spent the last eight seasons leading the girls’ program, touted the effort of both teams defensively.

“It was a defensive battle between two pretty solid defensive teams,” he said. “They made more shots than we did … You’ve got to give Jay County credit, their defense is tough. They’re long. They have a lot of length.

“It’s not like we’re playing a small team here. They’re tough to play on their floor.”

Early on it was tough for both teams, as Jay County (4-3, 3-0 Allen County Athletic Conference) had three missed shots and two turnovers on its first five possessions.

It still managed to get through the opening period ahead 6-5 as Dusty Pearson provided all of the Patriot offense.

Josh Dowlen caught a bit of a spark in the second quarter, scoring the first four points for the Patriots and forcing Grau into calling a timeout.

Dowlen, who finished with a game-high 13 points, started an 8-0 run for Jay County after the Tigers pulled within three, 10-7.

Dowlen’s jumper from the left elbow made it 12-7, and Ethan Dirksen followed with a reverse layup after an inbound pass.

Bennett Weitzel and Gavin Muhlenkamp had buckets to end the run.

Bluffton managed to find its shot a little bit in the second half — it was 4-of-20 (20%) in the first 16 minutes and 7-of-22 (31.8%) after the break — but Jay County was simply better.

The Patriots, who made nine of their 19 field goals before halftime, were 8-of-15 following intermission.

“That’s what it came down to, we just didn’t make any shots,” Grau said. The Tigers ended 11-of-42 (26.2%) for the game. “It’s not like we tried to miss shots.

“We had some looks, we just didn’t knock them down.”

Baskets from Weitzel and Muhlenkamp in the third quarter gave Jay County its biggest lead of the night, 24-13.

Bluffton knocked down a trio of 3-pointers in the third and later got within six, 37-31, late in the fourth but never got closer.

Bluffton senior Hayden Nern, who has a handful of 30-point games this season, was held to just 10. Lukas Hunt led the Tigers with 12 points, all of which were 3-pointers.

“We were making (Nern) work,” Bomholt said. “That’s what we were trying to do.”

Nern was 3-of-14 from the field, and all of his shots that were from further than 5 feet from the basket hit anywhere but rim. Each of his three 3-pointers hit nothing but air.

“We just absolutely took (Nern) out of the game,” Bomholt said. “We were able to do that and that gave us a chance.”

Jay County travels to take on Class 2A No. 7 Blackford tonight in a game that was moved up an hour because of the threat of inclement weather.

The freshman game is slated for 4 p.m., with junior varsity approximately 5:15 p.m. and the varsity contest at 6:45 p.m.

The Bruins, led by standout Luke Brown, are 12th in the state in scoring at 75.5 points per game.

Bomholt would not exactly disclose his plan for slowing down Brown, who averages more than 30 points per game this season, but anticipates the challenge of keeping him at bay.

“If he decides to be on, we’re going to have our hands full,” he said. “But if we can control him and keep it at least reasonable, we feel like if we do what we’re supposed to do they’ll have trouble guarding us.

“I’m not sure at this point in time in his career though we can do very much that he hasn’t seen.”



Junior varsity

Jay County had a strong start and picked up its second win in as many games with a 41-29 victory.

The Patriots (2-5) led 11-3 at the end of the first quarter and were out front 24-5 at halftime. The Tigers put together a bit of a surge in the third, outscoring the Patriots 15-8, but the first-half deficit was too much to overcome.

Brady Davis led all players with 16 points, including eight in the fourth quarter. Gavin Myers added six points for Jay County, which also got five points apiece from Adrek Pogue and Trent Alexander.



Freshman

The Patriots overcame a one-point effort in the third quarter to beat the Tigers, 30-23.

After leading 6-3 at the end of the first, the Patriots (6-3) fell behind 10-7 at halftime. They trailed 19-17 heading to the fourth before rallying for the win.

Payton Nichols led all players with 14 points, eight of which came during the fourth quarter.

Abraham Dirksen added five points while Wes Bihn scored four points.