Jay Co.'s big-play trio leads win over Falcons (01/24/04)

PORTLAND — Forget about going out. Dustin Overton likes his home cooking. So does Mark Kelly.

Playing in front of their home crowd for the first time in several weeks, Overton went for a double-double and Kelly was just a rebound shy of also accomplishing the feat.

And the second half became what is now commonplace to Jay County fans — the Trent Bailey show.

After losing four straight games on the road, a trio of strong performances plus the home court edge added up for a 58-51 victory for the Patriot boys basketball team over the Winchester Golden Falcons (5-6) Friday.

Overton was near perfect with a season-high 24 points, and Bailey scored all of his 18 points in the second half.

“It was a huge win,” said Kelly, who had 11 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks. “We were on a four-game skid, and we weren’t happy with ourselves and the way we were playing. We just came in and decided to pick it up.”

The win made Jay County 5-0 on its home court and 6-5 overall. The Patriots will be home again Saturday night against Northeastern (7-4) at 6 p.m.

“This was a real big win just to get us back into the flow and get us more confident,” said Bailey, whose big second half followed an 18-point fourth quarter Tuesday against Bellmont. “It’s great to play at home.”

And while Bailey wasn’t scoring in the first half — partly because of foul trouble — Overton was lighting his home nets on fire.

The senior forward made each of his first five field goal attempts, missed his sixth, and was perfect for the rest of the night. He scored 16 of the Patriots’ 20 first-half points, and finished 10-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 at the foul line.

Overton also finished with a game-high 11 rebounds.

“Those are real good things,” he said. “I just came out and played hard. I had to step it up even more (when Bailey went out with foul trouble).”

The trio combined to overcome an outstanding 31-point effort from Winchester’s Lance Hawley.

The first half was tight, with Jay County leading 20-17 at the intermission. Caleb Bogue tied the game for the Golden Falcons with a 3-pointer to open the second half, but then the Patriots took the lead for good.

Andy Pinkerton, Trent Bailey, Dustin Overton and Mark Kelly all scored in a 10-0 run for a 30-20 lead. Winchester pulled back to within two points late in the third quarter, and trailed by five with a minute to go in the fourth when Kelly all but sealed the game.

After a Trent Bailey bucket to push the lead to 53-46, Kelly earned a charging call on the defensive end as Hawley plowed into him without the ball. Kelly then scored on a long assist from Heath Williams, and went to the line to push the lead back to 10 points moments later.

The Patriots went on to the seven-point win, partly because Kelly stepped up as a third scoring option.

“Having Kelly step up was great,” said Bailey. “It’s so much better to have (that third scorer). That’s what coach has been talking about. If we have that more often it’s going to be hard to stop us.”

“We’re looking for that third guy to step up and be a scorer,” said Teagle. “We really needed that from Mark. He did a real nice job. He altered some shots and played smart.”

But, Teagle also emphasized the great team game his squad played.

“I thought we did a great job against their pressure by attacking,” he said. “We knew we could get some easy points off that.

“We looked ahead well tonight. We passed it to the open guy and didn’t force shots.”

That fact was evidenced by the team’s 16 assists on 23 made field goals. Williams had four assists, and Andy Pinkerton added three.

Pinkerton was also the only other Patriot to score in the contest as he finished with five points.

Overton, Kelly and the 5-foot-6 Williams (seven rebounds) combined to lead Jay County to a 32-17 advantage on the glass.

“The rebounding I was really proud of,” said Teagle. “A lot of times it was one and done (for Winchester).”

Hawley finished 10-of-21 from the field and 5-for-5 from the line on the way to his game-high total. He was 6-for-10 from beyond the 3-point arc, but got little help from his Golden Falcon teammates.

Bogue was the next highest scorer with eight points, and three other players added four apiece. Hawley and Peter Wallace shared a team-high with four rebounds apiece, and Dustin Baldwin had three assists.

“We shot 17-of-46 and I’m sure Jay County’s defense had something to do with that,” said Winchester coach Chip Mehaffey. “We’re better shooters than that regardless.

“Jay County’s a good team. They earned the victory.”[[In-content Ad]]