July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Jay is ready for long road (02/28/05)
JCHS boys basketball
Jay is ready for long road (02/28/05)
By By RAY COONEY-
The Jay County boys basketball team didn’t get any help from the IHSAA in this year’s tournament draw. Then again, maybe it just doesn’t need any.
The Patriots have been down the long road to the sectional championship before, in each of the last two years in fact. En route to back-to-back sectional titles at Blackford, they have been without the help of a first-round bye as they’ve won six consecutive sectional games.
They will try to walk the long road for a third straight year beginning Tuesday when they take on the Elwood Panthers in the opening game at Blackford beginning at 6 p.m.
“I think anybody that’s playing wants the bye,” said Jay County coach Craig Teagle after Saturday’s practice. “You want the easiest route to get there because anything can happen. I think it makes it a lot tougher road for us, but we’ve done it in the past. It’s not like we’re not used to it.”
In fact, the Bruins’ home court in Hartford City has become like a second home for the Patriots, who are 8-0 there over the last three seasons. They will start their attempt to add three more wins to that total in the same way they started the 2004-05 campaign — against Elwood.
Jay County opened the year with a 54-41 victory as it visited the Panthers on Thanksgiving Eve. It trailed 9-4 early in that contest, but exploded in the second quarter and continued to play well after the break for a 41-19 run.
Patriot leading scorer Trent Bailey (15.2 points per game) came out cold in that contest, but didn’t stay that way for long. He missed his first five shots, but then scored 10 consecutive points in the second quarter en route to a game-high 18.
Sophomores Corey Comer and Scott Bruggeman shared rebounding honors in that contest with six apiece, and Bruggeman also had six assists.
“I think defensively we’re better,” said Teagle of how his team has improved since that season opener. “I think we’re better at executing game plans ... than we were.”
The difference for Elwood now, Teagle says, is that it has an identity. He said the players have gotten adjusted to first-year coach Kyle Hobbs and his system.
The Panthers (7-13) have switched mostly to zone defenses, using the 2-3, 1-2-2 and 1-3-1 most often.
On the offensive end they look to Garrett Jones and Ryan Landrum to score from the outside, with point guard Tim Hovius handling the ball and Larry Nutt patrolling the middle.
Jones was the lone Elwood player in double figures in the season opener with 10 points, while Landrum scored 11 in last season’s 43-40 sectional semifinal loss to Jay County. Nutt had 12 rebounds and six blocks a year ago, and eight rebounds, five points and four blocks earlier this year.
“We can’t let (Jones and Landrum) get the hot hand and score a lot of points,” said Teagle. “We’ve got to make other people try to beat us.
He also said while he doesn’t typically like high-scoring games, he does want a more up-tempo contest against the Panthers because their bench is not as deep as his own.
“This will be a great test,” he added. “From the first game of the season to now, who has improved the most?”
Elwood opened the season with two losses, but was still just 3-4 a third of the way into the year. However, it followed with five straight losses to fall to 3-9. The Panthers managed three straight wins after that, but enter sectional play having lost three of their last four.
They are 1-4 against sectional opponents this year, with only a 57-42 win over Blackford on the positive side.
Blackford (5-15) stands as a possible opponent for the Elwood/Jay County winner, as it will take on Mississinewa (16-4) in Tuesday’s second first-round game. Tuesday’s victors will meet in semifinal action Friday at 6 p.m., and the winner of that game will advance to meet the winner of Friday’s second semifinal game between Delta (13-7) and Tipton (8-12) in the championship game Saturday night.
If the Patriots, who closed the season on a three-game winning streak, can get those three victories they will have three-peated as sectional champs for the fourth time in school history. They last did it near the end of the single-class system (1994-96).
“It’s a tough road. You’ve got to play well for three games. ... (But), I think the kids are comfortable with that,” said Teagle. “That’s just three more games of fun, I would hope, three more games of competition.”[[In-content Ad]]
The Patriots have been down the long road to the sectional championship before, in each of the last two years in fact. En route to back-to-back sectional titles at Blackford, they have been without the help of a first-round bye as they’ve won six consecutive sectional games.
They will try to walk the long road for a third straight year beginning Tuesday when they take on the Elwood Panthers in the opening game at Blackford beginning at 6 p.m.
“I think anybody that’s playing wants the bye,” said Jay County coach Craig Teagle after Saturday’s practice. “You want the easiest route to get there because anything can happen. I think it makes it a lot tougher road for us, but we’ve done it in the past. It’s not like we’re not used to it.”
In fact, the Bruins’ home court in Hartford City has become like a second home for the Patriots, who are 8-0 there over the last three seasons. They will start their attempt to add three more wins to that total in the same way they started the 2004-05 campaign — against Elwood.
Jay County opened the year with a 54-41 victory as it visited the Panthers on Thanksgiving Eve. It trailed 9-4 early in that contest, but exploded in the second quarter and continued to play well after the break for a 41-19 run.
Patriot leading scorer Trent Bailey (15.2 points per game) came out cold in that contest, but didn’t stay that way for long. He missed his first five shots, but then scored 10 consecutive points in the second quarter en route to a game-high 18.
Sophomores Corey Comer and Scott Bruggeman shared rebounding honors in that contest with six apiece, and Bruggeman also had six assists.
“I think defensively we’re better,” said Teagle of how his team has improved since that season opener. “I think we’re better at executing game plans ... than we were.”
The difference for Elwood now, Teagle says, is that it has an identity. He said the players have gotten adjusted to first-year coach Kyle Hobbs and his system.
The Panthers (7-13) have switched mostly to zone defenses, using the 2-3, 1-2-2 and 1-3-1 most often.
On the offensive end they look to Garrett Jones and Ryan Landrum to score from the outside, with point guard Tim Hovius handling the ball and Larry Nutt patrolling the middle.
Jones was the lone Elwood player in double figures in the season opener with 10 points, while Landrum scored 11 in last season’s 43-40 sectional semifinal loss to Jay County. Nutt had 12 rebounds and six blocks a year ago, and eight rebounds, five points and four blocks earlier this year.
“We can’t let (Jones and Landrum) get the hot hand and score a lot of points,” said Teagle. “We’ve got to make other people try to beat us.
He also said while he doesn’t typically like high-scoring games, he does want a more up-tempo contest against the Panthers because their bench is not as deep as his own.
“This will be a great test,” he added. “From the first game of the season to now, who has improved the most?”
Elwood opened the season with two losses, but was still just 3-4 a third of the way into the year. However, it followed with five straight losses to fall to 3-9. The Panthers managed three straight wins after that, but enter sectional play having lost three of their last four.
They are 1-4 against sectional opponents this year, with only a 57-42 win over Blackford on the positive side.
Blackford (5-15) stands as a possible opponent for the Elwood/Jay County winner, as it will take on Mississinewa (16-4) in Tuesday’s second first-round game. Tuesday’s victors will meet in semifinal action Friday at 6 p.m., and the winner of that game will advance to meet the winner of Friday’s second semifinal game between Delta (13-7) and Tipton (8-12) in the championship game Saturday night.
If the Patriots, who closed the season on a three-game winning streak, can get those three victories they will have three-peated as sectional champs for the fourth time in school history. They last did it near the end of the single-class system (1994-96).
“It’s a tough road. You’ve got to play well for three games. ... (But), I think the kids are comfortable with that,” said Teagle. “That’s just three more games of fun, I would hope, three more games of competition.”[[In-content Ad]]
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