Four reach double figures, JC still undefeated at home (01/26/04)

PORTLAND — Coach Craig Teagle got just what he wanted Saturday night. Four of his players scored in double figures.

Trent Bailey, Dustin Overton, Heath Williams and Mark Kelly all scored more than 10 points to lift Jay County to a 57-51 victory over the Northeastern Knights in boys basketball action.

Teagle has been talking all season — and especially during a recent four-game losing streak — about finding third and fourth scoring options behind Bailey and Overton. And for good reason, as last season it was a multi-faceted scoring attack which carried his Patriots all the way to the state Elite Eight.

“Having four guys in double figures makes you hard to guard,” said Teagle, whose squad is 6-0 at home with Anderson Highland coming to town Friday at 6:30 p.m. “I thought we did a good job of playing together.”

“It’s a huge win,” added Kelly, who followed up a big game Friday night with a double-double against the Knights. “We’re undefeated at home. It just feels good. It was a team effort.”

For the second straight night Kelly made a key play late in the game on the defensive end.

After Overton put the Patriots up 54-49 on an assist from Andy Pinkerton, Kelly emphatically rejected a shot by Northeastern’s Eric Davis. Overton made 1-of-2 free throws on the other end to all but seal the game with 14 seconds to go.

Kelly had taken an important charge in the waning moments of Friday night’s 58-51 victory over Winchester in which he had 11 points and nine rebounds. His block of Davis capped off an outstanding 16-point, 12-rebound effort — both team highs — against the Knights.

“It felt exhilarating,” said Kelly of the block. “I just went up, waited for him to shoot it and pinned it.”

Williams was the other big key late against Northeastern. He had 10 of his 12 points in the second half, including hitting 7-of-8 free throws in the fourth quarter.

It was the senior point guard’s first foray into double figure scoring this year as he has battled back from an ankle injury. He also had three rebounds and two assists.

Williams, who said he feels close to 100 percent, had a fairly simple answer to why the Patriots have bounced back at home after losing four straight games all on the road.

“I would say we’re shooting better,” he said. “On the road in the games we were losing we were in the 30-percent range. We’re getting better looks and being a little more patient than we were.”

Jay County (7-5) shot 51 percent against the Knights, a night after a 53-percent effort in the win over Winchester. Kelly led the way with a 6-of-9 performance from the field, and Overton scored his 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting.

Bailey also finished with 11 points.

Kelly’s effort on the glass also led a Patriot domination for the second straight night. His 12 rebounds were almost as many as the entire Knight team as Jay County took a 33-14 advantage on the glass.

“Mark had a really good game against Wapahani right before Christmas,” said Teagle. “That kind of showed just his upside.

“He’s a player that plays with emotion. When he can channel that emotion he can be a really good player for us. I was really proud of his effort tonight.”

The Patriots took control of the game late in the second quarter, and never trailed after the intermission.

Alex Nocton hit a 3-pointer for Northeastern 1:30 into the second quarter to tie the game at 14-14, but the offense went dead for the visitors after that.

Jay County finished the first half on an 8-0 run, with a hoop from Bailey and a pair of buckets by Overton. Williams finished the run with a pair of free throws with three seconds to play.

The Knights (7-5) cut the lead to one point in the fourth quarter, but were never able to forge a tie despite an outstanding effort from Cory Legear.

Much like Winchester’s Lance Hawley a night earlier, Legear spent the night trying to keep his team in the contest. He finished with a game-high 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, but didn’t get enough help.

Travis Dale joined him in double figures with 15 points, all in the second half, but no one else had more than five.

“It came down to that they executed down the stretch,” said Northeastern coach Clay Bolser. “They forced us into a situation where we had to play catch up the entire fourth quarter.

“It was a good battle. Our kids fought, but they came up short.”

Teagle said the only disappointment from the weekend was his team’s inability to hold on to the ball. It had an uncharacteristically high 33 combined turnovers in its two games, without which the Patriots would have likely scored a pair of 15-20 point wins.

Junior varsity

Jay County’s junior varsity team used big scoring advantages in the first and third quarters en route to a 41-21 win over Northeastern Saturday.

The Patriots jumped out to a 12-5 lead after one quarter. They still led by seven points at halftime before outscoring the Knights 14-3 in the third quarter to put the contest away.

Tyler Dunnington paced Jay County (6-6) with 17 points. Zac Green had 11 points, and John Retter finished with seven.

Joel Summit scored eight points for Northeastern.[[In-content Ad]]