Loving life in Lafayette (03/20/06)

LAFAYETTE — No guts, no glory.

With 32 seconds left, the Patriots had two options. Trailing by one, they could go for the quick score, thus leaving them a chance to rebound or foul after a miss. Or, they could hold the ball, take one shot, one chance at victory.

Guess which option they chose?

Corey Comer rolled in a shot from the lane with 1.6 seconds left in overtime, sending himself hopping happily down the floor and Jay County soaring to the state championship game for the first time in school history.

“It was awesome,” said Comer. “I don’t know, I’m in shock. I don’t know what to say.”

Say this: The Patriots are going to Conseco.

“I was just jumping up and down, yelling and screaming, because I pretty much knew right there that we had it and we were going to Indianapolis next weekend,” said senior John Retter, the rebounding leader (five) in a game where both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field. “We’re going to state. What else do I say? I don’t know what to say. I’m still not over that we won semi-state and we’re competing for a state championship.”

Plymouth star Randy Davis, who finished with a game-high 21 points, gave his team the lead with 44 seconds remaining in overtime. Then the Patriots pushed the ball across mid-court, ran some clock and called time-out with 32 seconds remaining.

“I asked them if they wanted to go for the win, they said, ‘Yeah,’” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle. “It was a pretty easy decision with our group. ... We wanted the ball in our senior’s hands.”

So Jay County ran down the clock, getting the ball to junior point guard Scott “Scooter” Bruggeman inside of 15 seconds. Bruggeman worked to the right side, then passed back to the top of the key to senior Tyler Rigby.

The team’s leading scorer was well-defended, so, in typical Patriot fashion, he passed off to Comer in the lane. The junior forward flipped the ball toward the hoop, and his shot rolled in with 1.6 seconds to go.

“Coach asked us if we wanted to go for the win ... I don’t know which one said yes,” said Rigby. “I was up at the top. I figured they’d be all over me ... but Corey was wide open, knocked it down, made a big play.”

“We were supposed to hold it so we could get the last shot,” said Comer. “We wanted to go for the win ... We got the shot. We made it. That’s the game.”

Plymouth had a final chance after a time-out but couldn’t get a shot off in time. Senior Zac Green tipped a pass away, preserving the victory and Jay County’s first trip to the state championship game.

“This is amazing,” said Bruggeman, who notched a game-best five assists. “It’s a dream come true. We’re going to Conseco to play for state.”

The Patriots (20-6) will make their bid for a state title against the No. 10 New Castle Trojans (20-6) at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis Saturday at 6 p.m.

“I haven’t really thought about it yet,” said Teagle of finishing the season in the state championship game. “I’m just so proud of the kids. I mean, they’ve worked so hard to get to this position, this situation. I’m just proud of them. The just fight and battle. They’re just a great group to coach. I’m lucky.”

It was another comeback win for the Patriots, who faced their largest deficit of six points at the end of three quarters. They were also down by six before rallying to defeat Wawasee a week earlier in the regional championship game.

Jay County wasted little time cutting the deficit as Rigby hit a 3-pointer off a Bruggeman assist just 27 seconds into the period. At the 5:23 mark Clint Muhlenkamp grabbed a rebound, put the ball back in the basket and rattled in a free throw for the team’s first lead in nearly 16 minutes.

“We’re a clutch team, you know,” said sophomore Luke Goetz. “We keep playing hard until the end.”

Then, with the game tied at 46, both teams tried holding the ball. Plymouth ended its possession with a couple of misses on a 3-pointer by Jacob Palmer and a put-back try by Davis. The Patriots had their chance but committed a turnover.

The Pilgrims then held for the final shot, with Davis coming up short on a 3-pointer and Chad Clinton going well off the mark on a put-back try at the buzzer.

The teams swapped the lead three times in the extra session before Comer’s shot punched Jay County’s ticket to Indianapolis.

“We just find ways to win,” said senior Zac Green. “It’s the same thing we’ve been doing all year.

“This is amazing. I wouldn’t trade this for the world.

“It just keeps getting better every week.”

“One of our goals is always, ‘Never give up, never let down,’” said Teagle the comeback. “It’s the first thing I wrote on the board this morning when we had our team meeting. ... That’s what this team does. You can’t tell if they’re up eight or down eight, they play the same all the time.”

Jay County took the win in its typical fashion — team.

While Davis led Plymouth with 21 points, Rigby was the high scorer for the Patriots with just 10. But the scoring came from everywhere, with Randy Evans and Bruggeman each adding nine points, Comer eight, Retter seven, Green five, Muhlenkamp three and Goetz two.

“It’s been like that all year,” said Teagle. “We’ve had six leading scorers on the year during games. You just never know who is going to step up. That’s why this is a true team.”

Evans, Retter, Goetz, Green and Clint Muhlenkamp each made the most of their shots, combining to hit all eight of their field-goal attempts. The team overcame rebounding and turnover deficits by shooting a ridiculous 19-of-29 (66 percent) from the field.

The Patriots were 5-of-7 from 3-point range, with Evans hitting three triples before the midway point of the second quarter. His third long ball pushed Jay County ahead 21-18 before Plymouth answered with a 7-0 run and pushed to a 30-25 half-time advantage.

“I was open,” said Evans. “I got a great, great couple of screens, I mean, nobody there. I shot it not even thinking and it went in.”

Davis shot 7-of-14 from the field and 6-of-8 from the line to lead Plymouth. But Clinton, who came in averaging better than 11 points per game, was limited to just six. Jason Renz went wild early, hitting a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers and scoring 10 of his 13 points in the opening half.[[In-content Ad]]