Patriots take 10th (02/07/2009)

The Patriots needed to bust out of their slump. The Eastbrook Panthers ended up as their victims.

After losing back-to-back games for the first time all season, four players scored in double figures for the Jay County High School boys basketball team Friday in a 70-32 trouncing of Eastbrook.

"We needed to get back and get a win. We had lost three out of four," said JCHS coach Craig Teagle after watching his team improve to 10-3. "We lost to good competition, but we have not played well offensively. We've just not shot the ball very well for the most part in that streak. So we needed that. We had a pretty good offensive night.

"Hopefully we can build off this."

Jay County shot just 31 percent from the field Jan. 31 in a loss to Bellmont, and then turned the ball over 20 times Tuesday as it fell to Muncie Southside. Both of those problems were taken care of against the Panthers (1-12).

Led by Billy Wellman's 7-of-12 shooting effort for a game-high 18 points, the Patriots hit for 59 percent from the field. The senior had a second straight solid night from long distance, hitting four 3-pointers after burying three against Southside.

Adam Garringer followed his classmate with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. JCHS, which has hovered around 30 percent from beyond the arc this year, hit 8-of-18 (44 percent) against Eastbrook.

"I was glad to see Billy broke out tonight and shot the ball well," said Teagle. "He's shot it well at practices a lot of times, but it's good to get that carry over.

"I thought Adam Garringer was outstanding breaking people down and then delivering the ball."

Senior Kyle Simmons added 13 points, and junior Eric Homan also reached double figures with 10. Homan and Trey Dunn each grabbed five rebounds to lead a 27-17 advantage on the glass, and Dunn and Jacob Westlake finished with four assists apiece.

The Patriots trailed 6-4 early in the game, but took the lead midway through the opening period when Homan grabbed an offensive rebound and passed to Garringer for an easy lay-up. That basket kicked off a 16-0 JCHS run, which included four free throws from Homan and 3-pointers by both Wellman and Garringer.

Jay County led by 20 at the half and ran away with the victory by outscoring the Panthers 21-5 in the final quarter.

Five different Patriots finished with at least two assists. And despite Eastbrook's attempts at a full-court press, they turned the ball over just six times.

"I just thought we played with more confidence offensively," said Teagle. "It's always easier to play with confidence offensively when you're hitting shots, but I also thought we did a better job getting each other open.

"I thought we made some extra passes tonight.

"(Against the press) we stayed in our spots, we had ball reversal. Anytime anyone is in a 2-2-1, you just patiently reverse the ball and you'll get across the 10-second line. ... And we did that."

No Panthers reached double digits as Boone Searles and Matt Shonkwiler shared the team high of eight points. Jordan Hatfield grabbed four rebounds, and Shonkwiler dished out two assists.

Eastbrook became the sixth opponent Jay County has held to less than 40 points this season. The Patriots' defensive average of 41.2 points per game is fifth best in Class 4A.

"Defensively sometimes I thought we were outstanding," said Teagle. "But then we gave up seven dribbles from the perimeter right to the rim. You can't do that against good teams.

"But as far as our active hands and feet, our close outs and our swarm down in the post, we were pretty good."

Junior varsity

Jay County racked up 18 first-quarter points and rolled to a 46-20 victory over the Panthers.

Brad Horn had seven points each in the first and third quarters on the way to a game-high 16 for the Patriots (11-1), who outscored Eastbrook 26-9 in the second half.

Josh Beaty and Ben Walter added eight points apiece.

Cale Korporal totaled six points for the Panthers.

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