Feeling right at home (03/10/06)

They’ll be playing a basketball game — two if all goes well — but the Patriots may as well be at home, lounging on their couches. That’s how comfortable they are at Blackford.

For Jay County, playing in the Class 3A regional tournament at Blackford won’t be quite the same as playing on its home floor. But it won’t be far off.

The Patriots have made Blackford their second home over the past four years as Saturday’s regional semifinal — against the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings at 10 a.m. — will mark their 16th game there since the start of the 2002-03 season. Over that span they have racked up a 14-1 record — the lone loss came in the 2005 sectional title game to Delta — and have won three sectional titles.

For comparison’s sake, Blackford is 8-45 at home during those same four seasons. And in three of the last four years, the Patriots have won more games in the Hartford City gym than the home Bruins.

“I think it’s a big advantage because we’ve played there a lot,” said senior Tyler Rigby. “We’re used to the atmosphere and how the gym looks.”

Coach Craig Teagle agreed the location of the tournament, as opposed to Jay County’s last two regional appearances at NorthWood, plays into his team’s favor. They’ll get to sleep in their own beds as opposed to hotel rooms Friday night, there won’t be much travel time and the Patriot crowd should dominate the stands.

But senior Zac Green is quick to point out: “It’s not going to win us the game though. We’ve still got a big game to play.”

That big game comes against the Vikings (19-4), one of the hottest teams in the state as they have won 13 of their previous 14 games. The lone loss in that stretch came against defending regional champion, the Class 3A No. 6 Wawasee Warriors (19-4).

Tippecanoe Valley, which also lost to Wawasee in last season’s regional semifinal round, is led by Shane Drudge and David Lash.

Drudge is an inside-outside threat, leading the team with 14.7 points per game. He has hit 26 3-pointers on the year, is the Vikings’ leader in blocks (1.6 per game) and is second in rebounding (4.7).

Lash owns the post as he is just behind Drudge at 14.1 points per game while shooting 58 percent from the field. His 8.1 rebounds per game are the best in the regional, and he also averages 3.6 assists and 1.5 blocks.

Chad Hoffer shoots even better (65 percent) as he averages 10.4 points off the bench. Point guard Bryce Kelley dishes out 5.5 assists per game, has hit a team-high 29 3-pointers and chips in 8.0 points per contest.

Teagle said his team may have to give up some outside shots to get its main goal accomplished.

“(Our biggest challenge is) trying to get their inside game stopped with Lash and Drudge,” he said.

“They’ll do a lot of stuff facing up too, but when they get their back to the basket down on the low block it’s almost over with. They shoot a very high percentage from there.

“Any time the ball goes in we have to try to get it out of their hands.”

In addition to the players, Jay County will be contending with veteran coach Bill Patrick. He has 623 wins in 37 seasons and spent the first 29 years at Whitko, where Teagle says he never had a losing record.

The Patriots counter with the most balanced scoring attack in the regional field. Rigby leads the way with 13.3 points per game, but five other players average between 6.7 and 9.5 points per game.

Rigby’s 51 3-pointers make him one of the best 3-point shooters in the tournament, Corey Comer (5.4) and John Retter (5.3) lead the team in rebounding and Scott “Scooter” Bruggeman has 108 assists.

The teams have just one common opponent on the year, the Norwell Knights. Tippecanoe Valley beat Norwell 32-31 for the sectional title while Jay County lost 50-41 to the Knights Feb. 21.

Saturday’s second regional semifinal contest will pit Wawasee against the Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran Cadets (16-6). The Warriors came through the most difficult sectional of the four regional teams, having beaten No. 4 NorthWood in the championship game. Concordia did not play a team with a winning record in the sectional tournament.

Wawasee is one of just five state-ranked teams left in Class 3A — in fact, half of the state-ranked squads are gone in Class 4A and 2A as well — while Concordia has a roster which boasts seven players at 6-feet-4-inches or taller.

Teagle said if his team does get past Tippecanoe Valley and make the regional final — it did in 2003 before falling 62-59 to Fort Wayne Elmhurst in the championship game — the hours before the 8 p.m. title game will be different than in the past. Because of the proximity of host Blackford, players will get to go home for the afternoon hours before meeting with the coaches to go over the plan for the night game.

If Jay County makes it even that far, to the championship, it will match its best season since the 1995-96 team finished 18-7 and lost by one to Anderson in the regional finale. If the Patriots win both games, they would earn the first semi-state berth in school history.

“I’ve thought about it,” said Rigby of the chance at school history, “but I’m more thinking about trying to get past this game more than this weekend. I know every team in it is good at this point, so you can’t overlook anybody.”[[In-content Ad]]