JCHS beats Stars (12/10/07)

Billy Wellman put a resounding end to his shooting slump. It came at the wrong time for the Starfires.

Wellman's 17 points, including key back-to-back baskets in the fourth quarter, sparked the Jay County High School boys basketball team to a 43-33 victory Saturday night over visiting South Adams.

Wellman had struggled to the tune of just 30 percent shooting through the first three games of the year, but he came alive with his team clinging to a 30-27 lead with five minutes to go. The junior scored on consecutive possessions, the second off a Kyle Simmons assist with 3:41 to play, and the Patriots kept at least a five-point lead the rest of the way.

"He had six points when it mattered," said South Adams coach Ryan Biegel of Wellman, who also scored the opening basket of the fourth quarter. "When they needed baskets, he scored them. ... I know he had a nice little 15-footer in the zone. ... That's just finding the gap. It's just a good shot.

"It's just a couple things, mental errors on our part, that allowed them to get that stretch. Daniel picking up his fourth and having to take him out for a little bit didn't help.

"He's their player. Otherwise they've got four guys that are just good basketball players. They're very hard to guard. They're one of the hardest teams to guard. They don't have a superstar, so, who do you guard, who do you help off of?"

Wellman was the answer Saturday as he stepped inside the 3-point line to do most of his damage. The junior knocked down seven of his eight two-point field goal attempts and shot 8-of-11 (73 percent) overall.

He also had six rebounds, second only to teammate Clint Muhlenkamp with eight, as the Patriots took a 25-16 advantage on the glass.

"I would like to say that was great coaching, but that's just a good player hitting shots. Billy Wellman is a good player," said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose team evened its record at 2-2. "He's struggled a little bit shooting the ball, but he's a kid that when he starts feeling it he's going to be awfully successful on the offensive end."

Neither team led by more than the 10-point final margin, and they were within two possessions of each other until late in the third quarter. Jay County closed the third on a 10-2 run after going scoreless for the first 3:26 of the second half.

Wellman had six points during the run as 12 of his 17 came after the break.

South Adams charged back to within three at 30-27 with 5:02 to play, but made some key mistakes down the stretch as Jay County hit seven of its final nine free throws.

"We didn't get the rebound on the free throw, the out of bounds play turnover, those two things killed us right there," said Biegel. "For the most part, our game plan was good, we just didn't fulfill it the whole, entire game.

"We were hanging in there, hanging close the whole game, until halfway through the fourth quarter they got that six, seven, eight points, that's hard to come back from. They're going to take care of the ball, they're going to make their free throws. Unless they do something stupid, they're going to win the game. Tonight they didn't do the stupid things. That's why we lost, I thought."

Luke Goetz followed Wellman with seven points for the Patriots, and Simmons and Dexter Shreve added four apiece. Simmons and Muhlenkamp each had three assists.

South Adams struggled offensively, managing just 12 points in the opening two quarters and going scoreless for the final four-and-a-half minutes before halftime. Daniel Bollenbacher led with 13 points and six assists, but top outside scoring threat Nick Teeter went scoreless on just one field-goal attempt.

"Our plan was no easy scores for Bollenbacher in the post," said Teagle, "Teeter absolutely no catch and shoot - don't let him have a catch and shoot three - and then we wanted to keep the point guard in front of us all the time, square up, don't let him get to the basket, don't let him penetrate. For the most part we did a pretty decent job doing that stuff."

Junior varsity

Jay County didn't get a shot off on its final possession as it fell 26-24 to the Starfires.

The Patriots were up 24-23 until Ryan Moser hit a lay-up and was fouled with 10.8 seconds left. He made the free throw for a two-point South Adams lead, and JCHS turned the ball over as the final seconds ticked away.

Moser's eight points powered the Starfires.

Caleb Armenta added six points, and Cody Meshberger added five.

Brad Horn finished with nine points to lead Jay County. Eric Homan and Josh Beaty each finished with five.[[In-content Ad]]