Jay responds to challenge (01/05/04)

PORTLAND — The Centerville Bulldogs were a formidable opponent to be sure. But they may not have provided the biggest challenge Saturday night.

Instead, the biggest challenge may have come from within, as Jay County coach Craig Teagle talked to his Patriots at halftime. He urged them not to lie down despite having trailed by as many as 11 points against the first winning team they had played all year.

The response was resounding, as the Patriots authored a 10-point turnaround in the second half for a 54-49 victory over Centerville.

“Coach challenged us to come out and not play weak,” said junior Trent Bailey, who scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half. “We had to come out intense, and we met the challenge.”

The 25-point total for Bailey matched a career-high he set a night earlier in a victory over Shenandoah. He hit all of his five 3-pointers after the intermission, but it was the disappearance and reemergence of the Jay County defense in the final two minutes which allowed the home team a win.

The Patriots (5-1) led 49-44 with 1:49 to play, but Centerville (6-2) tied things up with a 3-pointer by Adam Erbse and a hoop from Travis Power. Both shots were uncontested, a fact Teagle pointed out in a timeout with 19 seconds to go.

The Bulldogs took the ball after the timeout — trailing 50-49 because of Mark Kelly free throw — but the Jay County defense was back at full force.

Erbse got the ball to six-foot-seven Brandon Mayse in the high post, and Mayse handed it right back. Erbse tried to drive the left baseline, but was met with a swarm of Patriot defenders.

He attempted a pass as he went fading out of bounds, but it ended up in the hands of Jay County point guard Heath Williams. Williams managed to get the ball to Dustin Overton before falling out of bounds himself.

Overton was fouled with three seconds left, and hit both free throws. Bailey swiped the ensuing inbound pass and hit two more foul shots for the final margin.

“We couldn’t shoot the ball at all in the first half,” said Bailey. “And, we let our bad offense break down our defense.”

Bailey and the rest of the Patriots started the game 1-for-10 from the field. They watched most of their first nine failed 3-point tries rim out as Centerville grabbed its biggest lead at 18-7 a few minutes into the second quarter.

Teagle agreed that the offensive and defensive problems in the first half were linked.

“I thought we let our poor offense effect our defense in the first half,” he said. In the second half when we played good defense our offense got better.”

Most of the second-half offense came from Bailey as he, Overton and freshman Corey Comer rallied the Patriots from a five-point hafltime deficity to a 27-27 tie with a 10-3 run early in the third quarter.

Bailey then put Jay County ahead for good by hitting three consecutive 3-pointers, all on assists from Overton. The lead grew as large as six points before Centerville battled back to the 49-49 tie only to have the Patriots seize control once more in the final seconds.

The win was a big one for Jay County, as the Bulldogs were previously ranked in the top 10 in Class 2A and were 12th in the most recent voting.

“That was awesome,” said Overton, who finished with 10 points, five rebounds, three blocks and a career-high eight assists. “We listened to coach and didn’t tuck our tails.”

Bailey also had three rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Following Bailey and Overton were Comer with nine points and four rebounds, and Kelly with seven points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Mayse and Erbse each scored 15 points for Centerville. Mayse had 16 rebounds — 11 in the first half — in the defeat.

Jay County put itself in a position to write its name in the record book for the second straight season with the victory. A win Friday at Norwell would make the Patriots 6-1 and match the school record set last year for the best start to a season.

The opportunity comes even after bringing back only three players who saw significant varsity minutes last year. And one of those — Heath Williams — missed the first three games with an ankle injury.

Teagle said the biggest key to the continued success has been consistent half court defense, and Bailey said it starts before the team ever hits the floor.

“Every player goes all out in practice,” said Bailey. “Every played does everything he needs to do to make the team better.

“Our intensity and our heart in practice is the main thing.”

Junior varsity

Jay County led all the way in the junior varsity contest in a 36-20 victory.

Centerville did not score until Josh Blackwell put the ball through the net midway through the first quarter. It was the only bucket for the Bulldogs in the first six minutes.

Still, they pulled to within three points at the half. But Jay County outscored them 20-7 after the break to pull away.

Tyler Dunnington poured in 15 points for the Patriots. John Retter finished with 13 points.

Blackwell notched eight points for Centerville, and Justin Johnson scored four.[[In-content Ad]]