Patriots are golden

The Jay County High School boys basketball team has put up at least 13 wins in eight straight seasons. But with just one full-time varsity player back this year, there was some question as to how good the 2009-10 version could be.

With each game, the Patriots are erasing those doubts.

JCHS made its biggest statement of the young season Friday night, winning a 55-52 thriller over the undefeated Class A No. 3 Monroe Central Golden Bears.

Senior Eric Homan buried a turn-around jumper with 14 seconds left, and the defense withstood a pair of late chances by Monroe Central to earn the victory.

"It's been a good time playing with this group," said Homan, the lone returning varsity player. "I know this year coming in nobody thought we were going to do much ... That's what's been driving us. We've been pushing and trying to prove people wrong."

Homan played the role of hero in front of an electric crowd against the Golden Bears (3-1) after Myles Merchand missed the front end of a one-and-one try with 36 seconds left to keep the JCHS deficit at one. His teammates worked to get him the ball on the right block, he used a jab-step to create some space from defender Fletcher Goodman and hit what would be the game-winning shot.

Logan Thomas had two chances to extend the game for Monroe Central, first missing on a drive with about five seconds left and then bouncing a 3-point try off of the rim as time expired. In between, Garrett Krieg hit a pair of free throws to give Jay County its three-point victory.

"With 40-some seconds left when we were fouling them to put them in a one-and-one, I was already thinking, 'We're going to a play for Eric in the post,'" said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose team is now 4-0. "That was a given.

"He wanted the basketball, and if he wants it, that's where we're going. We didn't get it delivered right away ... but Eric kept posting hard and we finally got it in there to him and he made a great move.

"It was a fun game."

Homan's game-winning shot gave him a game-high 18 points, 14 of which came in the second half. He added 11 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

"We played a pretty good defensive possession," said Monroe Central coach Jeremy Duncan of Homan's turn-around jumper.

"I thought we made Homan take an awfully tough shot. It was a contested shot. He just made a play. The kid is a good player. Good players make big plays in those situations, and he did."

Brock McFarland also made a host of plays for Jay County in the second half after a difficult opening 16 minutes.

The freshman, who spent much of the first half on the bench after picking up his second foul with 3:10 left in the first quarter, returned to rack up nine points in the second half. He and Homan repeatedly dished to each other in the paint, with McFarland recording all of his four assists in the second half.

"I always know I can trust Eric," said McFarland, who finished 5-for-5 from the field for 11 points. "If I give him the ball, he'll always do something with it. If I'm ever in a spot where I need a pass, I'm always looking for Eric.

"In the first half I was kind of nervous," he added, noting that he was struggling on defense early. "At halftime the coaches had a talk with me and got my spirits back up. I came out and played a little bit better."

The largest lead of the game came as Monroe Central pushed to an eight-point lead with a 10-2 run to open the second half. But the Patriots fought back and nearly had the game tied during a wild sequence to close the third quarter.

Brad Horn drove and missed a lay-up, and Homan leapt up and went for a put-back dunk that would have tied the score at 40. However, his attempt rattled out, and the Golden Bears nailed a 3-pointer from beyond half court at the buzzer.

"We had a huge (momentum) swing," said Duncan. "Homan missed a tip dunk, and then we hit the three from half-court. That's a five-point swing. I felt pretty good about things at that point in time. We thought we could ball-control a little bit, make them play us and get them in a little bit of foul trouble, but that just didn't happen."

Instead, Jay County responded with a 9-0 run to open the fourth quarter.

McFarland scored on a strong inside move, and then fed Homan for what turned out to be a three-point play. Homan then returned the favor with an assist to McFarland, and added another assist to Kegan Comer for a 47-43 lead.

Merchand reclaimed the lead for the Golden Bears on a put-back with 1:56 to play, and neither team scored again until Homan's game-winner.

"It was definitely a shift, missing the big play and then them coming back and hitting the shot," said Homan. "That's a big swing of momentum. That's a five-point difference.

"But it's like I told the guys, 'We had momentum going our way at that point, so if that crazy play doesn't happen, we're still sitting good. So we've just got to come out and keep doing what we were doing."

Garrett Krieg hit every shot he took - one two-pointer, one 3-pointer and four free throws - for Jay County to score nine points. Josh Beaty keyed the Patriot offense early as he scored all of his eight points in the first half.

"I thought Josh Beaty had a really good game around the basket," said Teagle. "He played well.

"Kegan Comer came off the bench and played extremely well.

"Probably the key to a lot of what we did is Dillon Ainsworth. ... His defense was really good. He was kind of an unsung hero."

And Brad Horn helped Homan lead JCHS to a 28-20 rebounding advantage as he grabbed eight boards, seven of which came in the opening 16 minutes.

Merchand's 20 points led the Golden Bears, and Rhett Braun (12 points) and Logan Thomas (10) joined him in double figures. Logan Thomas also had team highs of six rebounds and four assists.

Junior varsity

The Patriots outscored Monroe Central in every quarter on the way to a 35-19 victory.

Scott Schwieterman scored all of his game-high nine points in the second half for Jay County, which led 15-9 at the break. Andy Haffner and Stephen Scott added six points apiece.

Kyle Bean totaled five points to pace the Golden Bears.[[In-content Ad]]