Outstanding defense stops cagers in finale (03/07/05)

MUNCIE/HARTFORD CITY — On the Chinese calendar, 2005 is the year of the rooster. Saturday was the day of the Eagles.

The Delta Eagles denied a pair of Jay County Patriot three-peat attempts as they won both the sectional gymnastics and boys basketball championships.

During the day, Delta edged the Patriots for sectional gymnastics title at Muncie Central by a 103.85-103.175. The scores were season bests for both teams.

DHS coach and Jay County native Brad Farber said he had expected a second place finish, but “I was hoping for first,” said his wife and co-coach Julie. “I’ve been hoping for it all year. That was our goal from the beginning. Our goal before our first meet was break 100 and win sectional. And they did it. We’re going to celebrate.”

In the evening the Eagle boys used a dominating defensive effort to stop Jay County 41-25 in the Class 3A sectional boys basketball final at Blackford.

“It’s just fantastic,” said Delta coach Paul Keller. “This is my 20th year of varsity coaching and this is only the sixth time I’ve been able to do this. I know how precious these are.”

Both Jay County teams had won back-to-back sectional championships, as had the girls basketball team which lost in its sectional championship game a few weeks ago to Elwood. This year marks the first since 1999 that the Patriots did not win a sectional title in any winter sport.

The gymnastics victory gave Delta its first sectional title in that sport since 1989. The boys basketball team won its last championship in 2002 en route to a state title.

The Eagle boys advance to the NorthWood regional where they will play Class 3A No. 2 Bellmont (23-2) in the first of two regional semifinal games Saturday at 10 a.m. The host Braves won their championship game 60-54 over Leo.

Delta and Jay County both move on to regional action in gymnastics, as does Huntington North (97.1), as the top three teams and top six individuals from each sectional move on. They will compete at Huntington North Friday at 6 p.m., where they will be joined by Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger (114.125), Fort Wayne Northrop (109.65), Fort Wayne Snider (102.10) and the top six individuals from the Fort Wayne Concordia sectional.

Jay County’s student fans had taken to chanting “This is our house” throughout the sectional tournament, referencing the Patriots’ 10 consecutive wins at Blackford High School. But by game’s end Delta’s students were able to answer with a yell of “Who’s house is it?” because their team had taken control of the deed.

The Eagles (15-7) used a suffocating defense to earn their sectional championship. They limited the Patriots, who made just two field goals in each of the final three quarters, to 29 percent shooting.

Jay County’s 25 points were by far a season low. Its previous worst was 36 points against Class 4A No. 2 Muncie Central.

“It just comes down to they are just physically and mentally tougher than we are right now,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose team finished with 19 turnovers. “They got into us so hard defensively it just shook us. We didn’t take care of the basketball. ... You’ve got to credit them. They just get into you so hard that they take you out of everything you want to do. Right now they’re the better basketball team. I think they proved that twice this year.”

The Patriots (15-8) also lost to Delta by double digits during the regular season, 62-48.

There was never any kind of offensive rhythm for Jay County, which turned the ball over six times in the first period. It had only committed eight turnovers total in Friday night’s semifinal win over Mississinewa.

Keller said he thought his team’s halftime turnover total (eight) was too high, but “... the other side of that coin is they had 10, and we’re up four,” he said. “In a game like this four points is pretty big actually. We committed ourselves to defense. That’s what wins championships. We’ve always believed that and that was evident tonight I think.”

Teagle said he thought his team let the game slip away in the final minutes of the second half.

The Patriots had taken a 13-9 lead, getting a 5-0 run on a 3-point play by Mark Kelly and a driving layup from Trent Bailey. But, they didn’t score again for nearly seven minutes.

Delta pulled to within two on an Andy Kennedy bucket and tied the game with 1:43 left in the half as Michael Capstick drove for a hoop. Kevin Lynch gave the Eagles the lead with 46 seconds to go, and Kennedy scored on a put-back just before the buzzer after a Jay County turnover.

“Those are hustle plays that we’ve got to make and we can’t let the other team make,” said Teagle.

Delta also scored the first basket of the second half to go up 19-13, and the Patriots were never able to pull closer than four points.

It was Kennedy who paced Eagles as he dominated play in the post. He scored their first six points and 10 of their 17 in the first half. He finished with game highs of 13 points and eight rebounds.

Travis Smith also provided a boost inside, finishing with seven points and six rebounds. Delta won the battle of the boards 25-18.

“I thought Jay played us tough on the outside,” said Keller, after watching his team make one 3-pointer on just three attempts. “We felt like we could get the ball inside too. I was real pleased. ... Andy did a great job inside.

“Travis Smith is kind of the unsung hero of this team. ... He played his best game of the year tonight.”

Lynch joined Kennedy in double figures with 11 points as he went 6-of-6 from the foul line, and Michael Capstick (4-of-4 free throws) added eight.

Teagle said Delta’s ability to play with the lead was one of the key factors in the contest.

“They’ve got good ball-handlers on the floor and that’s not our game to get out and trap,” he said. “Basically we couldn’t get them out of their offense once they spread it a little bit. I thought our effort was really good in the third and the fourth quarter, but the problem is we’re not as quick as them, we’re not quite as strong and so eventually we were going to break down and that’s what happened.”

Kelly, a senior starter, was the only Patriot to score in double figures as he finished with 11 points. He also had a team-best five rebounds.

Junior Tyler Rigby had five points.

Bailey, a senior who started for much of the last three seasons, spent the final 8:34 on the bench after picking up a technical foul for arguing with the officials and scored four points on 2-of-7 shooting. He holds school records for both single-game (nine) and career 3-pointers (132).

It was also the final career game for seniors Andy Pinkerton (one point, one rebound) and Michael Myers.[[In-content Ad]]