Jay tops Devils (12/09/06)

TIPTON - Every time the home team may have thought it created a void, a Patriot stepped in and filled it.

Jay County's three most experienced players were forced to the bench for more than half of the second quarter, and still the eighth-ranked team in Class 3A held a halftime lead. The Patriots never trailed as career scoring highs from Billy Wellman and Rhett Retter combined with some solid play off the bench for a 52-40 victory Friday night over the Tipton Blue Devils.

"When you combine their experience with their talent and how well coached they are, they're good," said Travis Daugherty, the coach of the Blue Devils, who was once again left shaking his head after a game against Jay County. "I hope we get a chance to see them again, because right now the sectional goes through them. They're really tough."

For the third straight game, the Patriots (4-0) jumped out to a fast lead. They were up 11-2 after the first 3:08, but Tipton had a golden opportunity.

Corey Comer, the Patriots' leading scorer, was tagged with a questionable second foul with a minute to go in the opening quarter to send him to the bench for the remainder of the half. And senior point guard Scott "Scooter" Bruggeman followed right behind with his second foul on the final play of the opening period. And junior forward Clint Muhlenkamp picked up his second foul with 4:06 to play in the second quarter.

Tipton cut into its disadvantage with the trio off the court, but not by enough as Wellman, Retter, Spencer Hummer and Dexter Shreve all filled in to replace them. Jay County still had a 21-20 lead at halftime, scored the first seven points of the third quarter and never let their lead slip to less than three the rest of the way.

"That was big," said JCHS coach Craig Teagle of the job his team did in the second period. It was nice to be able to keep that lead because we didn't want to chance one of those guys getting a third foul."

With the Patriots' two starting post players on the bench, logic would have said Tipton's 6-foot-7-inch center, Derek Elston, would be in for a field day. But that wasn't the case.

While Hummer and Shreve combined for just two points, they slowed down Elston and stepped in admirably for Comer and Muhlenkamp. Shreve, a sophomore, even grabbed a rebound on the first defensive possession of his first varsity appearance, and quickly followed it up with a steal.

"They deserve credit because some of those secondary guys really stepped up and made some key plays to sustain what they had built," said Daugherty.

Jay County's lead was built on some outstanding shooting from Wellman, who hit five of the team's 10 3-pointers. He drained a pair in the opening 2:01 of the game and added two more back-to-back in the third quarter as he scored eight consecutive Patriot points.

He finished with 17 points while Retter went 3-of-4 from long distance and 4-of-4 from the foul line in the final 1:03 to add 13 points. Bruggeman joined them in double figures with 10 points to go along with team highs of seven rebounds and three assists.

"He was awfully good tonight," said Teagle of Wellman, "but we expect that. We know he can be a heck of a player.

"Obviously Billy and Rhett playing well was important. We knew Rhett was going to pop out and hit some shots because he can just flat out shoot it."

Wellman, a sophomore, upped his scoring average to 12 points per game, which is now best on the team. He has also hit 11 3-pointers.

Retter, who also had five rebounds and three assists, doubled his season 3-point output in the win over the Blue Devils.

"I feel pretty good," said Wellman, who said having a year of varsity experience under his belt has made a big difference. "I don't feel like I'm shooting any better, but it's just the confidence. Every shot feels like it's going to go in."

Shawn Friend shot the lights out for Tipton, hitting 7-of-9 from the field for 16 points. Elston scored eight of his 10 points in the opening half and had problems getting the ball in the fourth quarter.

Elston also had 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. Friend added six rebounds and Jason Dye dished out five assists.

Junior varsity

The Blue Devils dominated the opening quarter and never let up on Jay County as the Patriots fell 48-29.

Tipton grabbed a 12-2 lead in the opening quarter and pushed the advantage to 15 at the half. It added another 17 third quarter points to build the lead behind Nate Massey, who scored all of his game-high 18 points in the opening three quarters.

Weston Wood had eight of his 11 points in the second half, and Jake Hoffman added 10.

Aaron Daniels scored all of his team-high nine points for Jay County after the intermission. Derek Bartlett finished with six points.[[In-content Ad]]