July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Patriots win another close one (03/06/04)
JCHS boys basketball
Patriots win another close one (03/06/04)
HARTFORD CITY — Jay County has had to sweat out its two victories this week.
But, “At least we’re winning our close ones now,” said junior Trent Bailey. “We found a way to do that.”
The Patriots had a six-point lead Friday and held on to defeat the Elwood Panthers 43-40 despite missing the front end of a pair of one-and-one tries in the final 33 seconds of their boys basketball sectional semifinal game at Blackford.
“It wasn’t really pretty,” Bailey added, “but we did what we had to do to win.”
Jay County lost each of its first four games which were decided by four or fewer points this season. But, with the win over the Panthers it has now won three straight tight contests, sandwiching a six-point win over Tipton in between.
The victory over Elwood earned the Patriots a chance to defend their sectional crown. They will meet the Mississinewa Indians (16-5) in the championship game at Blackford tonight at 7:30 p.m.
Mississinewa defeated the Delta Eagles 52-50 in overtime in the second semifinal game Friday. The Indians, who are on an eight-game winning streak, did not play Jay County this year.
The Patriots (14-8) were up 43-37 Friday after a pair of Bailey free throws with 47 seconds left, but did not score again. Mark Kelly missed the front end of a one-and-one with 33 seconds left, and Elwood’s Tim Hovious sliced the lead in half.
Hovious got to the line and hit three free throws after Heath Williams was called for a foul beyond the 3-point arc. Dustin Overton then had a chance to boost the Jay County lead, but he also missed the front end of a one-and-one.
The Panthers (10-12) got a final opportunity to tie the game with nine seconds left, inbounding the ball to lone senior Eli Henson. He was expectedly double-teamed and dished to No. 2 scorer Ryan Landrum.
Landrum was well defended also and missed a 3-point try from the left elbow. Williams grabbed the rebound and sent an outlet pass to Bailey, who was able to run the final few seconds off the clock.
“We were trying to get Landrum the last shot,” said Elwood coach Dave Henson, Eli’s father. “We thought we were going to get a pick-and-roll. We didn’t run it very well. We just had too much of a crowd.”
Eli Henson, who was among the state scoring leaders at 21.5 points per game, went 6-of-18 from the field and finished with just 14 points. Landrum, the team’s No. 2 scorer at 16.8 ppg, was 5-of-18 from the field and 0-of-7 on 3-pointers as he finished with 11 points.
Despite their struggles they were the only Panthers in double figures as the team finished 3-of-21 (14 percent) from 3-point range and 28 percent overall.
Larry Nutt picked up 12 rebounds for Elwood, and went wild inside defensively with six blocks.
“If you can hold Henson and Landrum to 11 and 14 points, that’s a good job,” said Jay County coach Craig Teagle. “I’m proud of our kids.”
“We had some good looks, especially in the fourth quarter,” said Henson. “A couple times we were down by two and had good looks and couldn’t get them down.”
Teagle said he was especially happy with the way a different one of his players would make a big play every time Elwood closed within a few points in the third and fourth quarters. The Panthers never led in the final three quarters for that reason.
There was Chad Keen’s pull-up jumper, Mike Alberson’s 3-pointer for his lone points of the game, another 3-pointer by Bailey and a couple of free throws by Overton. But, none of those plays got the Jay County crowd going as much as the one from Kelly.
With the Patriots leading by just three points Heath Williams came up with a steal and darted down the floor. His lay-up try went too hard off the glass and was rolling off the front of the rim when Kelly arrived.
Trailing the play, the 6-foot-6 junior launched himself into the air, grabbed the ball and hammered it back through the iron with two hands.
The first dunk for Kelly this season sent him hopping excitedly back down the floor. The crowd was in such a frenzy that Landrum traveled to turn the ball over, and Elwood was forced to call a timeout to regroup.
“All I’ve got to say is it was one play in a bigger game,” said Kelly, emphasizing the importance of all the aforementioned plays in the victory. “It was just one play. I just did my part, and everybody else did too.”
Kelly and Bailey shared a team-high in scoring with 11 points apiece. Kelly finished with a double-double as he grabbed 10 rebounds, and Bailey was the assist leader with four.
Corey Comer added nine rebounds, Overton had six and Andy Pinkerton and Williams each added five as Jay County took a 43-34 advantage on the glass.
The Panthers had their only lead at 5-4 three minutes into the game. Jay County dominated the rest of the quarter, scoring the final six points and then adding the first three of the second quarter with a 3-point play by Kelly.
Elwood went 6:10 without scoring during the Patriots’ 9-0 run, and trailed by as many as 10 points. It cut the deficit to one point in the fourth quarter, but never regained the lead.[[In-content Ad]]HARTFORD CITY — Adam Skeens hit a couple of free throws with 14 seconds left in overtime Friday to lift his Mississinewa Indians over the Delta Eagles, 52-50, in the second sectional semifinal game at Blackford.
Mississinewa (16-5) overcame a couple of early seven-point deficits Friday to earn the victory. It will play Jay County in the championship game at Blackford Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Skeens’ foul shots left Delta with enough time to score, but it turned the ball over and was forced to foul with one second left on the clock. The Indians split the pair of free throws, and a desperation final shot by the Eagles’ Michael Capstick was no good.
Delta (13-8) started the game on a 7-0 run, but led just 11-9 after one quarter. It pushed the lead back out to 20-13, but was outscored by the Indians 17-3 in the rest of the first half.
The Eagles pulled back to tie the game 44-44 at the end of regulation before falling in overtime.
Skeens led all scorers in the game for Mississinewa with 19 points. Kyle Linn finished with nine points, all of which came in the third quarter.
Jeff Adams scored 16 points in the losing effort for Delta. Capstick also reached double figures with 13 points, and Travis Smith added eight.
But, “At least we’re winning our close ones now,” said junior Trent Bailey. “We found a way to do that.”
The Patriots had a six-point lead Friday and held on to defeat the Elwood Panthers 43-40 despite missing the front end of a pair of one-and-one tries in the final 33 seconds of their boys basketball sectional semifinal game at Blackford.
“It wasn’t really pretty,” Bailey added, “but we did what we had to do to win.”
Jay County lost each of its first four games which were decided by four or fewer points this season. But, with the win over the Panthers it has now won three straight tight contests, sandwiching a six-point win over Tipton in between.
The victory over Elwood earned the Patriots a chance to defend their sectional crown. They will meet the Mississinewa Indians (16-5) in the championship game at Blackford tonight at 7:30 p.m.
Mississinewa defeated the Delta Eagles 52-50 in overtime in the second semifinal game Friday. The Indians, who are on an eight-game winning streak, did not play Jay County this year.
The Patriots (14-8) were up 43-37 Friday after a pair of Bailey free throws with 47 seconds left, but did not score again. Mark Kelly missed the front end of a one-and-one with 33 seconds left, and Elwood’s Tim Hovious sliced the lead in half.
Hovious got to the line and hit three free throws after Heath Williams was called for a foul beyond the 3-point arc. Dustin Overton then had a chance to boost the Jay County lead, but he also missed the front end of a one-and-one.
The Panthers (10-12) got a final opportunity to tie the game with nine seconds left, inbounding the ball to lone senior Eli Henson. He was expectedly double-teamed and dished to No. 2 scorer Ryan Landrum.
Landrum was well defended also and missed a 3-point try from the left elbow. Williams grabbed the rebound and sent an outlet pass to Bailey, who was able to run the final few seconds off the clock.
“We were trying to get Landrum the last shot,” said Elwood coach Dave Henson, Eli’s father. “We thought we were going to get a pick-and-roll. We didn’t run it very well. We just had too much of a crowd.”
Eli Henson, who was among the state scoring leaders at 21.5 points per game, went 6-of-18 from the field and finished with just 14 points. Landrum, the team’s No. 2 scorer at 16.8 ppg, was 5-of-18 from the field and 0-of-7 on 3-pointers as he finished with 11 points.
Despite their struggles they were the only Panthers in double figures as the team finished 3-of-21 (14 percent) from 3-point range and 28 percent overall.
Larry Nutt picked up 12 rebounds for Elwood, and went wild inside defensively with six blocks.
“If you can hold Henson and Landrum to 11 and 14 points, that’s a good job,” said Jay County coach Craig Teagle. “I’m proud of our kids.”
“We had some good looks, especially in the fourth quarter,” said Henson. “A couple times we were down by two and had good looks and couldn’t get them down.”
Teagle said he was especially happy with the way a different one of his players would make a big play every time Elwood closed within a few points in the third and fourth quarters. The Panthers never led in the final three quarters for that reason.
There was Chad Keen’s pull-up jumper, Mike Alberson’s 3-pointer for his lone points of the game, another 3-pointer by Bailey and a couple of free throws by Overton. But, none of those plays got the Jay County crowd going as much as the one from Kelly.
With the Patriots leading by just three points Heath Williams came up with a steal and darted down the floor. His lay-up try went too hard off the glass and was rolling off the front of the rim when Kelly arrived.
Trailing the play, the 6-foot-6 junior launched himself into the air, grabbed the ball and hammered it back through the iron with two hands.
The first dunk for Kelly this season sent him hopping excitedly back down the floor. The crowd was in such a frenzy that Landrum traveled to turn the ball over, and Elwood was forced to call a timeout to regroup.
“All I’ve got to say is it was one play in a bigger game,” said Kelly, emphasizing the importance of all the aforementioned plays in the victory. “It was just one play. I just did my part, and everybody else did too.”
Kelly and Bailey shared a team-high in scoring with 11 points apiece. Kelly finished with a double-double as he grabbed 10 rebounds, and Bailey was the assist leader with four.
Corey Comer added nine rebounds, Overton had six and Andy Pinkerton and Williams each added five as Jay County took a 43-34 advantage on the glass.
The Panthers had their only lead at 5-4 three minutes into the game. Jay County dominated the rest of the quarter, scoring the final six points and then adding the first three of the second quarter with a 3-point play by Kelly.
Elwood went 6:10 without scoring during the Patriots’ 9-0 run, and trailed by as many as 10 points. It cut the deficit to one point in the fourth quarter, but never regained the lead.[[In-content Ad]]HARTFORD CITY — Adam Skeens hit a couple of free throws with 14 seconds left in overtime Friday to lift his Mississinewa Indians over the Delta Eagles, 52-50, in the second sectional semifinal game at Blackford.
Mississinewa (16-5) overcame a couple of early seven-point deficits Friday to earn the victory. It will play Jay County in the championship game at Blackford Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Skeens’ foul shots left Delta with enough time to score, but it turned the ball over and was forced to foul with one second left on the clock. The Indians split the pair of free throws, and a desperation final shot by the Eagles’ Michael Capstick was no good.
Delta (13-8) started the game on a 7-0 run, but led just 11-9 after one quarter. It pushed the lead back out to 20-13, but was outscored by the Indians 17-3 in the rest of the first half.
The Eagles pulled back to tie the game 44-44 at the end of regulation before falling in overtime.
Skeens led all scorers in the game for Mississinewa with 19 points. Kyle Linn finished with nine points, all of which came in the third quarter.
Jeff Adams scored 16 points in the losing effort for Delta. Capstick also reached double figures with 13 points, and Travis Smith added eight.
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