Jay, SA to meet in soccer sectionals

The Patriots and Starfires will meet in both soccer sectional tournaments. On the tennis courts, Jay County will likely play the defending sectional champions while South Adams will take on a county and conference rival.

The IHSAA held tournament draw Monday for all three sports, with the pair of local teams drawing rematches in both boys and girls soccer. The boys teams will meet in the semifinal round Thursday, Oct. 8, at 7:30 p.m. at Blackford High School while the girls will play Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 5 p.m. in a quarterfinal match at Marion's Ballard Field.

The Patriot boys tennis team drew a bye in the Marion sectional and will play in the semifinal round Friday at 4:30 p.m. against the winner of the opening-round match between Madison-Grant and defending champion Marion. The Starfires play in the tournament at Norwell where they will face Adams Central in the opening round Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

In the boys soccer sectional tournament at Blackford, the host Bruins will take on Union City in the first semifinal match Thursday, Oct. 8, at 5:30 p.m. The winner of that game will play the Jay County/South Adams winner in the championship game Saturday, Oct. 10, at 11 a.m.

The Patriots (10-4) are the defending sectional and regional champions and defeated South Adams 5-0 during the regular season. They also topped Union City 9-3, but lost 4-1 to Blackford.

The girls soccer sectional hosted by Marion will open Monday, Oct. 12, with Eastern (Greentown) playing Marion at 5 p.m. and Blackford playing Oak Hill at 7 p.m. JCHS and the Starfires will play the first of two quarterfinal games Tuesday, Oct. 13, with a game between Huntington North and Norwell to follow at 7 p.m.

The winners of the Monday games will play in the semifinal round Thursday, Oct. 15, at 5 p.m., with Tuesday's winners battling at 7 p.m. The championship game will be Saturday, Oct. 17, at 5 p.m.

During the regular season this year, South Adams defeated the Patriots 1-0. Against other sectional opponents, Jay County (4-7) defeated Norwell 2-0 and lost to Huntington North 3-0 and Oak Hill 4-0.

In the Marion boys tennis sectional Blackford and Mississinewa will play in the other semifinal match at 4:30 p.m. The championship will be Saturday at 10 a.m.

Jay County (2-13) lost 5-0 to Marion and 4-1 to Blackford during the regular season.

The Norwell boys tennis sectional will have two opening-round matches, with Bellmont playing Huntington North Thursday at 4:30 p.m. along with the Adams Central/South Adams match. The winners will advance to the semifinal round Friday at 4:30 p.m. to take on the host Knights and Bluffton respectively. The championship match will be Saturday at 9 a.m.[[In-content Ad]]