Dropped in opener (12/01/07)

DECATUR - Maybe Zach Colclasure was channeling his older brother. Or maybe he just has the same gift.

Either way, it worked out well Friday night for the Bellmont Braves.

Colclasure made all of his 10 free throws, all in the fourth quarter, for a 24-point night in leading his Braves to a 69-63 victory over the visiting Jay County Patriots.

"It came down to that's what they were going to have to do," said Bellmont coach Larry Patterson of his team's 14-of-15 foul-shooting mark in the final period. "We spread it out and played a little more patient and got an opportunity to shoot free throws. That's what you've got to do down the stretch."

Colclasure, the younger brother of 2002 Bellmont graduate Seth who set the Indiana state record for free-throw percentage in a season by going 161-of-171 (.976), finished off the Patriots from the line after helping build his team's lead with smart passing.

Twice the senior drove toward the basket late in the third quarter, dishing both times to junior teammate Ethan Brege for 3-pointers. Colclasure then added a driving bucket to open the fourth quarter, and Drew Konkle added a hoop for a 10-0 Braves run to a 53-44 lead.

"The thing about Colclasure, is when we watched him against Fort Wayne Wayne he wasn't giving the ball up. He got pretty smart in the second half and started kicking it out," said JCHS coach Craig Teagle. "Give them a lot of credit. ... When they got the lead they did a good job of getting it back into Colclasure's hands."

Jay County (0-1) closed to within four points twice on odd plays - a five-pointer midway through the fourth quarter and a four-pointer with 36 seconds left - but Colclasure and company simply refused to let them rally as the home team made 16 of its 17 free throws (94 percent) in the game. The Patriots, on the other hand, missed four free throws in the fourth quarter, including the front end of a one-and-one.

Teagle said the goal in the final minutes was to keep the ball out of Colclasure's hands, and to not foul him if he was able to get the ball. Instead eight of his 10 attempts from the line came in the final two minutes, including six in the last 53 seconds.

The Patriots allowed 47-percent shooting for the evening, and gave up their highest point total since allowing 72 to Muncie Central on Dec. 16 of 2005.

"There were so many mistakes," said Teagle. "We were too loose with the basketball sometimes, not fundamentally sound. We had people not getting to spots and making sharp, hard cuts toward the basketball.

"We have to learn how to play together and make the extra pass. We're probably as athletic or talented as any team I've had, but we don't play together nearly as well ... There shouldn't be 69 points on the scoreboard ..."

Twenty-seven of those points for Bellmont came from long distance as the Braves launched a barrage from beyond the 3-point arc before parading to the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. Brege buried a trio of 3-pointers, Konkle was 2-of-3 from the beyond the arc and Colclasure and Justin Hall also had two 3-pointers apiece.

"I think that's going to be one of our strengths," said Patterson, who got 14 points from Konkle and 13 from Brege.

"We've got more than one or two kids who can hit that. Ethan Brege came in and gave us the spark we had been looking for."

In addition to his points, Colclasure grabbed a game-best six rebounds while leading the Braves with four assists and two blocks. Konkle had five rebounds, and Hall totaled eight points and five boards.

The Patriots led for much of the first half - never by more than six points - before Bellmont pulled event at 35 at the half. The Braves pulled ahead to start the third quarter, and then Adam Garringer gave Jay County its first lead of the second half off an assist from Kyle Simmons with two minutes remaining in the third quarter. It would be their only lead after the intermission as Brege soon followed with his pair of 3-pointers to put the home team ahead for good.

Garringer and Aaron Daniels, who shot 5-of-6 from the field, led the Patriots with 10 points apiece. Clint Muhlenkamp and Garringer each had five rebounds.

Billy Wellman had a difficult shooting night and finished with nine points, and Heath Rigby and Luke Goetz each added eight.

"Nobody seemed to want the ball in critical situations except Luke Goetz," said Teagle of the senior point guard. "He was in foul trouble early, but when he was on the floor, he wanted the basketball. He was aggressive and came to it."

Goetz picked up back-to-back fouls midway through the opening quarter, the second on a tough call as he went for a steal on an inbound pass. Kyle Simmons played well in his absence for the rest of the opening half as he recorded six assists, but the Patriot offense struggled to find a solid rhythm for much of the night.

Junior varsity

Jay County scored to take the lead at the first-half buzzer and stayed on top the rest of the way for a 31-27 victory over the Braves.

The Patriots (1-0) outscored Bellmont 18-9 in the second and third quarters, then held on despite shooting just 8-of-18 from the free-throw line. The Braves got within four on several occasions in the fourth period, but never pulled within a single possession.

Josh Beaty powered Jay County with 12 points. Trey Dunn added six, and Nathan Brown and Jacob Chenoweth each added four.

Freshman

The Patriots bounced back from a four-point halftime deficit, but fell a point short in a 36-35 loss to Bellmont.

The Braves were consistent throughout, scoring eight points in every quarter. Brandon Voglewede led the home team with a game-high 14 points, and Kyle Lehrman joined him in double figures with 10.

Austin Mann's 12 points led Jay County. Garrett Krieg followed with 10 points and Zach Cash had five.

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