Patriots crush SA

Jay County seems to just keep getting better and better. The Starfires are just struggling.

Saturday's game at JCHS was close for a quarter, but the host Patriots outscored South Adams 32-2 from the four-minute mark of the second quarter through the first minute of the fourth and rolled to a 67-34 victory.

"When our defense goes, everything goes," said South Adams coach Ryan Biegel, whose team is now 1-4. "In the first quarter we were ahead until the last three seconds ... and playing well. ... Then we just fell apart."

The Starfires had no answers for stopping Jay County.

After shooting better than 50 percent Friday in a win over Class A No. 3 Monroe Cenral, the Patriots were even better Saturday. They shot 50 percent or better in every quarter, including 8-of-11 (73 percent) when they outscored SAHS 21-2 in the third quarter.

JCHS finished at 61 percent for the game.

Four Patriots reached double figures in the blowout, including freshman Brock McFarland. After hitting all five of his field-goal attempts Friday, McFarland buried his first seven against South Adams. His first miss came with 7:29 on the clock in the fourth quarter, and he immediately atoned by grabbing the rebound and putting it back for a score.

McFarland finished 8-of-9 from the field for 20 points, the most thus far in his five-game career.

"He was hesitant a little bit early," said JCHS coach Craig Teagle. "We told him, 'Just be comfortable, don't force anything ... it'll come.' And that's what's happened. He's just maturing and growing in front of our eyes."

Brad Horn also missed just one shot as he went 6-of-7 for 14 points. Eric Homan also scored 14 points, and Josh Beaty added 11.

"The four guys in double figures, that's big offensively for us," said Teagle. "That's what we've really needed. Everyone kept saying, 'You guys have only got Eric and Brad who can score.' We've got more than that, we just had not done it to this point."

The Starfires got a couple of easy inside hoops early and then took the lead when Nick Teeter buried a couple of 3-pointers. But McFarland buried a triple with three seconds left in the opening quarter to tie the game, and South Adams never led again.

Jay County scored the first eight points of the second quarter, and then closed the period on a 9-0 run to build a double-digit halftime lead. The home team also ran up a rebounding advantage in the second quarter with Homan often grabbing uncontested boards off of SAHS 3-point misses.

Homan out-rebounded the Starfires by himself in the first half, 10-6, and finished with 13 boards.

"We didn't do a very good job of blocking out," said Biegel. "We can't really guard anybody the last couple games. ... They probably had more offensive rebounds than we had rebounds."

The Patriots continued to dominate in the second half, holding South Adams without a field goal in the third quarter. JCHS finished the period on a 19-0 run, and then scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to push their lead to 55-21.

See Crush page 9

Continued from page 10

South Adams trailed just 23-19 midway through the second quarter, and then went nearly 12 minutes without a field goal. It was 0-for-8 in the third quarter and shot just 26 percent (9-of-35) for the game.

The 33-point loss to Jay County followed up a 32-point loss Dec. 4 to Class 2A No. 2 Bluffton.

"There are definitely things we've got to work on," said Biegel. "I really don't know what to say. It was the same as the last game, we just fall apart when things get bad."

Nick Teeter led South Adams with 18 points, but he shot just 4-of-15 from the field with all of his hoops coming from 3-point range. Chase Ingle added five points, Trevor White and Taylor LeFever each had three rebounds, and Dustin Wanner dished out two assists.

Garrett Krieg added seven points and three assists for Jay County, and Dillon Ainsworth grabbed four rebounds.

Despite a relatively inexperienced roster, the Patriots have opened 5-0 and are eighth in the state in defensive average at 39.8 points per game. They have limited opponents to fewer than 40 points three times in their first five games.

Teagle said he feels his group came together and realized its potential during the summer.

"I think it started this summer when we went to D-One. We had 13 games we played together and we ended up 10-3. Our guys found out we have a chance to beat people ... Going 5-0 has helped reinforce that we can do that.

"I'm very proud of this group."

Junior varsity

Jay County scored as many points in the first quarter as the Starfires managed in the first three on the way to a 51-30 victory.

Scott Schwieterman totaled 13 points to lead the Patriots, who led 12-5 after the first quarter and by 18 points at the half. They outscored SAHS 13-3 in the third to push the advantage to 38-12.

Matt Landfair and Drew Houck each added seven points.

Scott Hoeppner had seven points to lead South Adams. David Amstutz added six points.[[In-content Ad]]