July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.

Jay Co. battles to 2-0

JCHS boys basketball
Jay Co. battles to 2-0
Jay Co. battles to 2-0

By RAY COONEY
President, editor and publisher

DECATUR - For a group of players without much varsity experience, not much seems to rattle the Patriots.

They had turnover problems early and trailed from the final minute of the opening quarter to the mid-point of the fourth. They managed just a single field goal in the third quarter, scoring only four points.

But in crunch time the Jay County High School boys basketball team played with poise. It claimed the lead with 3:08 to play, and then took care of the ball and hit free throws down the stretch for a 42-38 victory over the host Bellmont Braves.

The Patriots also bounced back from a halftime deficit to win their season opener Nov. 28, and coach Craig Teagle said they'll benefit from their trial-by-fire.

"It is important, because you've got to have a little bit of adversity to build character," said Teagle. "They're a team that played together in the summer, but they are growing. Because no matter what you do in the summer, it's not like this. It's a different intensity, a different crowd.

"I'm proud of them. They've just got to keep growing."

Jay County (2-0) never trailed by more than six points, but a comeback seemed unlikely as it shot just 1-of-7 from the field in the third quarter. Defense ended up being the key.

Brad Horn continuously tipped the ball away from the Braves in the first four minutes of the final period, leading to steals and some easy offense on the other end. One of those knock-aways led to a Dillon Ainsworth trip to the free-throw line to cut Bellmont's lead to two with 4:05 to go, and a minute later Eric Homan buried a 3-pointer off of a Brock McFarland assist to put the Patriots in the lead.

Horn hit a couple of free throws on the next possession as JCHS protected the ball and made 5-of-6 from the line to seal the victory.

"And he had 10 deflections last week," said Teagle of Horn's effort in the final period. "That's something we've always known Brad's good at. ... He's so active.

"I thought our hands got more active. We got some deflections, got some steals. We pushed up a couple times and didn't convert, but it still changed the momentum."

The Patriots forced eight turnovers in the second half after Bellmont gave up the ball just once in the first 16 minutes.

Homan followed up his 28-point effort in the season-opener by leading all scorers Friday with 17 points. He scored eight of Jay County's 11 first-quarter points, and also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

"I thought Eric Homan set the tone early for us," said Teagle, while also complimenting the key 3-pointer. "We've said all along he can shoot the shot. And that really makes him hard to guard. He did a great job stepping out."

Horn scored five of his 10 points in the fourth quarter, and finished with four rebounds. Freshman Brock McFarland added four rebounds and three assists, and Garrett Krieg also had three assists.

Bellmont relied mostly on mid-range jumpers and 3-point shots, attempting 19 long balls in 43 attempts. It finished just 13-of-43 (30 percent) from the field and 4-of-19 (21 percent) from 3-point range.

"That's what they rely on, so we were trying to make sure we were there to contest the shots. They're a jump-shooting team," said Teagle, noting that he asked his perimeter defenders to stay with the shooters rather than using their usual strategy of collapsing when the ball enters the post. "They did a good job of making the adjustment."

Payton Selking hit three 3-pointers and led the Braves with 11 points and four assists to go along with four rebounds. Forrest Fullenkamp had nine points and four boards, and Nick Fuelling matched Homan with eight rebounds.

Bellmont shot 33-percent or worse in every quarter, and attempted just six field goals in the fourth.

"I thought we took some real challenged shots the first half," said Braves coach Larry Patterson, whose team is now 1-2. "I was real unhappy the first half. ...

"We have to recognize better. ... We're a pretty good shooting team when we take good looks, and we're not if we don't."

Junior varsity

The Patriots scored 24 of their 33 points in the second half on the way to a 33-27 win over Bellmont.

Scott Schwieterman scored 10 points to lead Jay County, which managed just two points in the opening quarter but trailed just 11-9 at the half. Stephen Scott added nine points, and Drew Houck scored eight.

Matt Chronister and Josh Hall finished with six points apiece for the Braves.

Freshman

Jay County outscored the Braves 12-4 in the final period to pull away for a 37-24 victory.

Cade Price had 16 points for the Patriots, who were up by nine at halftime. Alex Dunn added nine points.

Drake Reidenbach and Ryan Kohne each scored six points for Bellmont.[[In-content Ad]]
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