Bailey scorches Mississinewa for 33 points (03/08/04)

HARTFORD CITY — Three years ago sectional championships were the furthest thing from their minds. But now they’re making a second straight trip to Nappanee.

Despite losing all of their 13-point lead, the Jay County Patriots defeated the Mississinewa Indians 73-67 Saturday to repeat as the champions of the Blackford sectional.

Jay County (15-8) had not won a sectional game since the inception of class basketball before finally breaking through in 2002. It fell short in the semifinals that year, but since has now completed a pair of three-game runs to the title.

“It feels great,“ said senior Heath Williams. “(Mississinewa’s comeback) was getting kind off scary actually. I’d kind of like to be able to get a lead and actually keep it for once, but it shows our toughness of not giving up and winning the close games.”

Perhaps no one understands the turn-around the team has made as much as Williams, who has now played in a school-record 88 varsity games. He was a starter for the Patriot team which won just five games in 2000-01, but has now seen the team come full circle as it has won back-to-back sectional titles.

“It just says a lot about the kids gaining confidence,” said Jay County coach Craig Teagle. “The last three years we’ve continued to build. They got that taste of that regional (last year) and they really wanted to go back. To come back and play so well — tonight we were good on both ends of the floor — means a heckuva lot.”

Junior Trent Bailey led the offensive effort with a career-high 33 points, most of which came in an amazing second quarter.

Mississinewa (16-6) went on a 9-0 run, taking a 22-14 lead less than two minutes into the second quarter. Teagle then called a timeout, and Bailey came back to the court with a fury.

He buried a 3-pointer 11 seconds after returning to the floor and was unstoppable from there. He scored 21 of his team’s 23 points in the period — all on 3-point plays — with the only other two points coming from Andy Pinkerton.

Bailey’s play of the game came with 1:35 to go in the first half after he had already drained six 3-pointers. The Indians’ defense was all over him, sending him flying out of bounds at the feet of the Mississinewa fans as he came around a pick.

As the play continued an entrance pass to Corey Comer was knocked loose, and Bailey got into the scramble. He grabbed the ball, and as if to say “take that” to the opposing fans he stepped back behind the 3-point line and buried his seventh bomb.

He was fouled on his final 3-point try of the half with five seconds to go and made all three of those free throws to put the Patriots up 37-29. He finished the half with 27 points.

“It’s about time,” said Bailey, who also had four rebounds, two assists and a block. “I’ve been struggling a little bit the first couple games with my shooting. I was just able to come out tonight and hit some shots. I was able to get hot. They were setting good screens and getting me open and people got me the ball.“

“He’s done it all year for us,” said Teagle, who saw Bailey put in 18 points in one quarter earlier this year in a comeback try against Bellmont. “He’s a heckuva scorer. ... What I really like about Trent was he was hotter than a firecracker in the first half, but he understood we needed to go into the post and we needed to create looks for other scorers.

“Plus, they were going to really try to stop him. He played really smart and didn’t try to force stuff. He let the game come to him. That’s a great job.”

Dustin Overton followed Bailey with 16 points on an outstanding 5-of-7 night from the field. He also shared a team-high of five rebounds with Williams.

Mark Kelly had 10 points and four rebounds. Williams dished out eight assists, five of which led to Bailey 3-pointers.

Bailey and his teammates will get another shot at the No. 7 Bellmont Braves (19-4), who they lost to 62-51 Jan. 20. The teams will rematch in the second of two regional semifinal games at NorthWood Saturday at noon.

Fort Wayne Elmhurst (15-7), which knocked off Jay County 62-59 in last year’s regional championship, will take on Northridge (15-8) in the other semifinal contest at 10 a.m. The championship game will be at 8 p.m.

Mississinewa nearly overcame Bailey’s insane first-half effort, even after falling behind by 13 midway through the third quarter. They cut the deficit to eight points with one period to play, and then went on an 11-0 run while the Patriots went scoreless for 6:14.

Chance Cowgill had a chance to give the Indians the lead, but hit just 1-of-2 free throws with 1:28 left to tie the game at 60.

And that was as close as they got, with Kelly taking an assist from Pinkerton on the way to a 3-point play on the other end. Kelly’s lay-up and free throw with 1:22 left started a 7-0 Jay County run.

Mississinewa did get back to within three, but couldn’t overcome the Patriots. Bailey made a pair of free throws with nine seconds to go, and Dustin Overton sealed the win with a rebound and another pair of free throws with one second left.

Jay County made its first 16 foul shots and finished 23-of-26 from the free-throw line.

“I think a lot of that is seniors stepping up and understanding it’s their last go-around,” said Teagle of withstanding another rally. “But we’ve also had contributions from the juniors. Everyone who steps on the floor is starting to adapt and adjust there role and get better every game.

“The biggest thing is you’ve just got to believe. You’ve got to believe that when the other team makes a run you’re going to fight it off. You’ve got to believe your next shot is going in. You’ve got to believe next time down you’re going to get the defensive stop. I think that’s been a big part. The kids have just bonded together and they believed.”

Mississinewa got four players into double figures, led by 6-foot-7 Adam Mughmaw with 16 points. Cowgill finished with 13 points, and Adam Skeens and James Reed each had 11.

Skeens grabbed 11 rebounds, and Mughmaw added six.[[In-content Ad]]