Deep sixed (01/13/07)

It seemed neither team would have been very accurate trying to throw the ball into the ocean from 15 feet away. For Mike Lake, it was a different story.

Neither the Class 3A No. 6 Connersville Spartans nor the No. 10 Jay County Patriots cleared 50 percent from the foul line. But Lake buried 3-of-4, his only free throws of the game, in the final 11.9 seconds of overtime. Those shots, and Eric Winkler's offensive rebound in between, lifted the visiting Spartans to a 47-43 victory.

Lake's free throws helped finish off a stellar performance by Matt Howard, who racked up 23 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks for the visitors.

While Connersville struggled to 8-of-16 from the foul line, the Patriots were worse. They hit just 6-of-15 for the game, with five of those misses coming in the final 4:29 of regulation and overtime.

"It is frustrating, 6-of-15," said JCHS coach Craig Teagle of the missed opportunities. "It's not a lack of practice, repetition. It's not a lack of shooting them, working at them. I feel badly for the kids. I mean, they walk up there and they want to hit them just as bad as we want them to go in. Unfortunately sometimes you just ... struggle with them a little bit ..."

Jay County (7-3) struggled mightily on the offensive end in the final 12 minutes, managing just six points after scoring 14 apiece in the second and third quarters. The Spartans again were not much better, shooting just 4-of-13 from the field during the same span, but Lake got the job done.

Lake was fouled by the Patriots with 11.9 seconds left in the extra session, less than two seconds after Scott "Scooter" Bruggeman hit a couple of free throws to pull the home team to within 44-43. The Connersville senior hit the first shot, and missed the second. But with Jay County's two biggest players - Corey Comer and Clint Muhlenkamp - on the right side surrounding the 6-foot-8-inch Howard, Eric Winkler jumped up and grabbed the rebound when it bounced off the left side of the rim.

Lake ended up with the ball in his hands again as the Patriots were forced to foul, and this time hit both free throws with eight seconds left to all but seal the Connersville win.

"What can you say. He's athletic, that's why you put him in there late in the game," said Connersville coach Rodney Klein of the board work by Winkler. "We just told him to go up there and tip the ball back out, and that's what he did.

"It's a huge win. Any time you can win in high school basketball on an opponent's home court, you've done something. And especially against a team that's so highly regarded."

Jay County had several opportunities in a defensive fourth-quarter as Luke Goetz hit 1-of-2 foul shots to put his team up 40-39 with 2:53 left, then 1-of-2 again to tie the game at 41 after a Howard lay-in. Bruggeman came up with a steal from Lake on the ensuing possession, and the home team decided to run off the final 1:28 to try for the last shot.

The Patriots got what they wanted with Bruggeman driving to the basket and dishing to Comer, but the senior forward's shot was blocked.

Howard came down with the rebound only to have his long outlet pass tick off the fingers of Jordan Crowe and out of bounds with 3.2 seconds left. Bruggeman got the ball again on the last-gasp effort by Jay County in regulation, but his long 3-pointer over Howard hit the front of the rim and bounced away.

"We've got to pull one of those out," said Teagle, whose team defeated Muncie Southside 58-53 in overtime Dec. 15, but has since suffered a 47-45 loss at Centerville along with the overtime defeat Friday. "We've got to find a way to win those, and that's what we did in the tournament last year.

"What a confidence booster (it could have been), especially at home. ... But you've got to wipe it away really because we've got a tough one on the road (tonight)."

The Patriots visit Northeastern (7-3), the only team to defeat Centerville this year, tonight with junior varsity action starting at 6:30 p.m.

The overtime game was the second in Connersville's last three trips to Jay County. They also went to an extra session in 2003, with the Patriots pulling out a 70-66 victory.

Howard was the key Friday night as he had four of his blocks in the first half and came up with a key rejection of Goetz late in the game. He shot 9-of-12 from the field and led the Spartans to a 30-25 advantage on the glass, 18-11 in the second half.

"Another night at the office," said Klein of his senior big man, who is committed to play at Butler next year. "Matt just plays that way. He plays so intense and so hard, and our guys know to get him the ball inside. Once again our guards did a fantastic job of feeding him the ball ..."

Lake followed Howard with nine points and seven rebounds, and Ryan Henderson added eight points.

Bruggeman, Corey Comer and Rhett Retter (3-of-4 from 3-point range) all finished with 11 points to share the lead for Jay County, which led by as many as seven pints after an 11-2 second-quarter run. Bruggeman had seven rebounds and four assists, and Goetz had all of his four assists in the opening half.

Junior varsity

Jay County had two chances to score in the final five seconds, but a 3-pointer and a put-back attempt both missed as it fell 34-33 to the Spartans.

In a fourth quarter which saw both teams manage just four points, the Patriots (8-2) had the ball trailing by one with just 9.3 seconds remaining. Kyle Simmons inbounded from the right side to Adam Garringer, who worked an inside-out play with Dexter Shreve for an open 3-point look from the right corner. His shot was short, and Aaron Daniels attempt off the rebound also fell no good. The ensuing rebound went out of bounds to Connersville with 0.2 seconds on the clock to effectively end the game.

Trenton Patterson led the Spartan victory with 12 points. Tyler Heiber and Chandler Gable each chipped in five.

Jay County's Dexter Shreve shared the game high of 12 points with Patterson. Aaron Daniels scored 10 points, and Adam Garringer finished with nine.[[In-content Ad]]