Jay defense beats Delta

MUNCIE — The Patriots have stressed the importance of defense for years.
Delta found out just how hard it is to score on a team that is one of the best in the state on the defensive end.
Jay County High School’s boys basketball team held Delta scoreless for nearly 11 minutes Tuesday in a 45-28 victory over the host Eagles.
“Our defense really got pretty good,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose team moves to 4-0 on the season for third time in the last four years. “They were screening and rolling, and that caught us a couple times in the first half.
“The kids made a great adjustment. This is the fourth game in a row we’ve had to make an adjustment in the second half and that says their IQ must be pretty high.”
Kameron Slaven drained the second of his game-high four 3-pointers to give Delta (1-3) an 18-16 lead with 4:33 remaining in the second quarter.
Delta wouldn’t score for the remainder of the half and it took 6:23 into the third quarter to end the drought.
Meanwhile, Jay County scored eight points to close out the first half. Justin Dirksen and Jay Houck sandwiched offensive rebound put backs around a Delta timeout. Zach Pryor then connected with Adam Dirksen for one of his game-high 10 assists, and followed it with a jumper near the free-throw line just before the intermission.
Things started to fall apart for the Eagles after the break. Three turnovers in the third quarter and five straight misses kept the Eagles off the scoreboard. Slaven, Delta’s leading scorer, only took two shots in the frame.
“We knew Kameron hit some shots and coach (Teagle) was going to try to take them away,” said Delta coach Ryan VanSkyock, who spent the previous eight seasons as an assistant to Teagle. “We tried to tell our kids they are a great defensive team and we have to be patient on offense.
“I thought we forced too many stupid shots in the third quarter.”
Justin Dirksen, a JCHS senior, opened the frame with four of his nine points on assists from Pryor and Houck, pushing the score to 28-18. Houck, a sophomore, then hit a pair of layups around a free throw by Nick Clemens. On the next two trips down the court, Pryor found Adam Dirksen and Kyler Carvel for easy buckets.
Finally, with 1:34 left in the third quarter, Kaleb Slaven tipped in a rebound to stop the Patriots’ run of 21 straight points.
After going 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) in the first half, Delta was 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) in the final 16 minutes. VanSkyock said the shooting woes in the second half is just one area his team can improve on as the season progresses.
“Our kids are used to taking those shots. But those are the shots we don’t want,” he said. “We have to be a little more patient and work the basketball.
“Credit to Jay County, they took it away from us.”
Kaleb Slaven’s size and tenacity near the hoop helped Delta get out to an 11-9 lead after eight minutes. With exception to his bucket in the third quarter, Delta’s offense had a hard time finding the 6-foot-4-inch junior down low the rest of the game. He scored eight of his 10 points in the opening quarter.
“We just didn’t do a very good job of getting him the ball,” VanSkyock said, adding his young guards sometimes struggle passing to him near the basket. “He plays a big part of the offense. He’s a big boy in the paint and we have to do a better job of feeding him the ball. It’s going to take time, but Kaleb has to be a big part for us to be successful.”
Adam Dirksen led the Patriots with 12 points and has reached double figures in every game this season. Houck added 10 points, and grabbed seven rebounds.

Junior varsity
A big second quarter in which Jay County outscored Delta 15-0 gave the Patriot junior varsity team a 33-23 victory Tuesday.
Jay County (2-2) was tied with Delta after seven minutes, and like its varsity counterparts, held the Eagles to a long scoring drought.
Spencer Calvert, Justin Crouch and Ryan Burkett all had six points to lead the Patriots. Jason Schlosser chipped in with five and Bryce Hensley added four.
Delta’s Josh Moore led all players with 13 points.