Delta dogfight (02/28/07)

HARTFORD CITY - Tuesday night's game is what tournament basketball is all about. Get used to it.

If Jay County is to make a run to the state finals as it did a year ago, it'll happen only by working through close games like the 44-39 sectional-opening win over Delta.

Patriot coach Craig Teagle said it was exactly what he expected from coach Paul Keller's Eagles (7-15) in their game at the Class 3A tournament at Blackford.

"I could not picture that game any other way," said Teagle, pointing out that nine of Delta's losses have come by six points or fewer. "In fact, when coach Keller and I sat down (before the game) one of the things I said to him was, 'This is going to be a dog fight tonight.' And he said, 'Exactly.'

"You just know it's going to be that type of battle and fight. They battled for 32 minutes, every possession."

No. 9 Jay County led by as many as 10 points in the opening half, but the Eagles fought back to tie the game at 30 with just 3:37 to play. Then the Patriot big men took over.

Point guard Scott "Scooter" Bruggeman got into the middle of the Delta defense and kicked out to forward Corey Comer, who buried his only 3-point attempt of the game to reclaim the lead. After a defensive stop, Bruggeman found forward Clint Muhlenkamp underneath for two points. Comer scored off another Bruggeman assist with 1:34 to play to push the lead to six, and when the Eagles got back to within two, Muhlenkamp delivered.

The junior, who missed key foul shots in close losses to Connersville and Norwell this season, was targeted by Delta as the man to foul and went to the line with 30.2 seconds on the clock. He buried both free throws, extending the Patriot advantage to 40-36.

"It was huge," said Muhlenkamp, who the described a ritual he has used to help improve his foul shooting since that 0-for-5 night against Connersville."(Monday) night, before I went to bed, I visualized shooting two free throws in a crucial situation. I stepped up ... swish ... both of them. I knew I had to come through big."

The Eagles still had a chance as they got Tyler Ridge, who shared the team scoring lead with 14 points, a wide-open lay-up which could have pulled them back within two. But Ridge missed perhaps his easiest shot of the night, and Muhlenkamp grabbed the board.

"We got a pretty good look there to cut it to two," said Keller, "and it's just been that kind of year.

"I don't know that you could point to one thing. It's two teams that play a lot alike just banging away. They made some big plays, and unfortunately we just couldn't make very many big plays."

Muhlenkamp dished the rebound off to Bruggeman, who passed ahead to Comer. The senior was fouled and hit two free throws with 14.4 seconds left, then two more to secure the victory.

Comer finished 6-for-6 from the foul line on a night that saw the Patriots struggle (12-of-20), and hit 6-of-9 from the field. He scored nine of his game-high 19 points in the final 3:07 of the game.

"We actually even ran our out of bounds play against their full-court press late for Corey to get the basketball," said Teagle. "And he stepped up and hit them. He even said, 'I want the basketball.' That's why he's a senior leader.

"Clint also hit two big free throws. I'm really proud of them that we did find a way to win even though we were only 12-of-20 at the foul line."

Bruggeman struggled at the line (4-of-10), but still scored 13 points. Muhlenkamp added eight as Jay County's three most experienced players accounted for 40 of its 44 points.

Muhlenkamp had six rebounds, and Comer followed with five.

Bruggeman's five assists also gave him the JCHS career record in that category with 325. He tied the record on an assist to Comer for the first basket of the game, and broke the record on another dish to Comer with 3:18 left in the second period. Heath Williams, a 2004 graduate, had the previous mark with 321.

He broke Ben Reinhart's record for career steals (123) earlier this season.

Despite the defeat, Keller was proud of the effort his team put forth.

"I'm extremely proud of the character they've shown because this is hard," he said. "These kids haven't been through anything like this. They've grown up in this program and they've always won a lot of games.

"Our preparation the last three days has been outstanding," Keller added, noting that some teams with a 7-14 record might be inclined to pack it in for the year. "Our kids are not that way. We got down nine or 10 or 11 points and fought right back. I am proud of the kids that we have."

Ridge carried Delta early, hitting his first five field-goal attempts and scoring all of the Eagles' first-quarter points. But he went just 1-of-8 the rest of the way.

Ronnie Davenport hit 3-of-6 3-pointers and shared the team-high with Ridge, scoring all of his 14 points in the second half. Alex Kluge grabbed seven rebounds, and Ridge added five.

Tipton 66, Blackford 39

The Tipton Blue Devils put three players in double figures as they eliminated the host Blackford Bruins.

Tipton (12-9) led by six at halftime before dominating the second half. The Blue Devils outscored Blackford 37-16 after the intermission as they booked a date against Jay County in the sectional semifinal round for the second consecutive season.

Shawn Friend powered Tipton with 16 points. Brothers Derek Elston, a 6-foot-7-inch sophomore, and Bryan Elston, a 6-3 senior, finished with 14 and 13 points respectively.

Blackford (6-15) got 11 points from Marcus Dalton and nine from Matt McAfee.[[In-content Ad]]