Chemistry key for JCHS (11/26/2008)

When a program has seen as much success as the Patriots, there is no reason to lower the standards.

So as Craig Teagle begins his 11th season as the Jay County boys basketball coach, he'll be looking for his team to continue several impressive streaks.

The Patriots will be shooting for their eighth straight winning season, their seventh consecutive campaign of 15 wins or more and a seventh trip in a row to the sectional championship game. And that's not all.

"A big goal for us, we'd like to win the conference," said Teagle. "We've never won an Olympic Conference championship in boys basketball. That's a huge goal for us.

"I would like to see this team be one of the best defensive teams that we've had."

It is no surprise that a Teagle-coached team would have defense as its calling card.

A year ago Jay County held opponents to fewer than 50 points in 18 of its 22 games, included seven to fewer than 40. The numbers were even better a year earlier when just one team, Muncie Central, cleared 50 points against the Patriots in 24 games.

This year promises more of the same, but with a different formula.

"We're going to try to go switching man-to-man and see how it goes," said Teagle, who has previous used a straight man-to-man look with help principles. "I told the kids, if they work at it hard, we'll be extremely good at it. It keeps you from having to run through two or three screens chasing somebody."

Switching man-to-man means the Patriots will no longer be fighting through or around screens. Instead, if an opposing player sets a pick, the defenders involved will simply switch.

Part of the reason for the change comes from Jay County's overall lack of height, with every player on the team coming in somewhere between 5-feet, 10 inches and 6 feet, 1 inch. Switching won't create any dramatic height mismatches that weren't already there.

"I think it allows you to play even a little harder. You shouldn't get wore out as much because you shouldn't be bumping through every screen," said Teagle.

"And then I think it also gives you the ability to jump out in the passing lane some and maybe get a steal and get an easy conversion. If we communicate and we're active with our hands and feet, this group is strong enough and quick enough that I think they could be really good at it."

Teagle said the lack of height is more likely to hurt the Patriots offense because there won't be many easy baskets in the post. However, he does have three of his top five scorers back from a year ago.

Tops among them is senior Billy Wellman, who led the 2007-08 Patriots at 11.5 points per game. He is also the returning leader in rebounds per game (3.6), 3-pointers (42) and steals (19).

Adam Garringer and Kyle Simmons, also seniors, averaged 8.6 and 6.6 points respectively. Simmons also had 49 assists and 19 steals, and found his touch from 3-point range late in the season to finish at 11-of-23 (48 percent).

Joining those three in the starting lineup are juniors Jacob Westlake and Eric Homan. Playing in 14 games last season, Homan averaged 3.1 points and 1.7 rebounds.

Seniors Lance Franklin and Trey Dunn round out the rotation off the bench. Garrett Krieg, Brad Horn and Josh Beaty will each play for the junior varsity team while also picking up some varsity action.

"I really feel like we've got six guys who can get in double figures," said Teagle. "When we played this summer I thought when we played more spread out ... more of a cutting offense, we played a lot better because of our ability to dribble drive. And then we've got two or three pretty good perimeter shooters. I think that spacing really helped us.

"We're a much better basketball team when we make that extra pass. We hope to keep the court spread. There's not very often when we're going to be able to say, 'You duck down into the post, we've got a size advantage here.'"

The lack of size certainly creates a challenge for the Patriots. But Teagle said his team has the ability to overcome it and continue the success that has resulted in an average of 16 wins per season over the last seven years.

"If they decide to play together both offensively and defensively and have a determined attitude and decide that they're going to be a defensive team first, I think they have a chance to be a good basketball team," He said. "I think that if we don't play together and don't make the extra pass and get selfish ... then we'll be a mediocre team. Realistically, that shouldn't be acceptable for this group."

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