Pats' comeback fades late (03/15/04)

NAPPANEE — The first meeting between these two teams was a story of early scoring droughts for the Jay County Patriots before a late outburst made things interesting. They needed another outburst Saturday, but instead went cold when they could least afford it.

Jay County did not score in the final 3:23 as it saw its season end in a 53-41 regional semifinal loss to the No. 7 Bellmont Braves Saturday afternoon at NorthWood.

The Patriots (15-9) nearly overcame overwhelming foul troubling, cutting a nine-point deficit to just two with six minutes to play. But, they could not get any shots to fall down the stretch as Bellmont (20-4) made six unanswered free throws in the final 1:21 to pull away for the final margin.

“We feel very fortunate,” said Bellmont coach Shaun Busick, whose team went on to win regional championship Saturday evening. “Jay County’s a great basketball team. There’s no question about it.”

The Braves, one of only two ranked teams among the four remaining in Class 3A, defeated defending champion Fort Wayne Elmhurst 58-57 in overtime for the regional title. They will play No. 3 Western (22-3) at the Lafayette Jefferson semi-state Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

In the Jan. 20 regular-season game against Bellmont the Patriots had cold stretches in the first and third quarters, but Trent Bailey rallied them with 18 fourth-quarter points. The 23-point fourth quarter rallied Jay County from a 20-point hole for a 62-51 final margin.

The offense went in the opposite direction for the Patriots Saturday as they scored fewer points in each quarter. A Bailey 3-pointer on an assist from Williams was still able to pull them to within 41-39 with 6:01 to play, but they got no closer.

Jay County missed the front end of one one-and-bonus try and the back end of two more and managed just eight points in the fourth quarter. They did not score after a Mark Kelly free throw with 3:24 on the clock.

Bailey, who notched a game-high 19 points, missed a couple of 3-point tries after Kelly’s foul shot. Bellmont ran plenty of time off the clock in between, got a huge second-chance hoop from Adam Arnold and finished the game at the foul line.

“Trent had a few wide-open looks in the corner and they just didn’t go down,” said Jay County coach Craig Teagle. “You live by the three, you die by the three.

“I thought the kids did an excellent job executing our defensive game plan. We covered up the paint really well. They just had some athletic kids make some big plays. (Aaron Richie) hit two tough shots — one at the end of the third quarter and one in the fourth when we made a run.”

“They just had kids step up and make big plays at crucial times.”

The Patriots did a solid job shutting down Richie, who finished with a team-best 14 points, and leading scorer Arnold. But, they never overcame a deficit brought on by early foul trouble.

Kelly, the Patriots tallest player at 6-foot-6, went out with two fouls at the 5:43 mark of the first quarter. Freshman Corey Comer came in to replace him, but he had two fouls to his credit just 2:02 later.

Jay County still managed a 14-11 lead, but it disappeared when senior point guard Heath Williams joined the big men on the bench with a pair of fouls with 1:00 minute to go in the first.

Arnold hit the ensuing free throws, and the Braves immediately put on the pressure. They forced Chad Keen into a turnover, which resulted in a resounding dunk by Brian “Corky” Schultz.

Richie added a score just before the first-quarter buzzer for a 17-14 Bellmont lead. He then opened the second quarter scoring to complete an 8-0 run, and the Braves never trailed again.

Arnold followed Richie with 12 points, but he had to work hard for them as he finished just 3-of-9 from the field. He did grab a team-best 11 rebounds for a double-double to lead Bellmont to a 34-20 advantage on the glass.

Schultz sparked the team in the first half with eight of his 10 points and all of his six rebounds. Jon Zeser also chipped in eight points.

“I thought Aaron Richie was huge in the second half and I thought Corky Schultz was huge in the first half for us,” said Busick. “You’ve got to have big plays. Our kids have made a lot of big plays this tournament.

“Schultz in the first sectional game had 23. He’s really stepped up his game.”

By the time the first half ended four Patriots had at least two fouls — including Comer with three — and they trailed 31-24. Although they made Bellmont sweat they never truly recovered from that difficulty, getting just five shot attempts from post players Kelly and Comer.

No one joined Bailey, who shot just 6-of-18 as he tried to bring Jay County back, in double figures. Senior forward Dustin Overton scored eight points, limited mostly to turn-around jumpers.

Kelly had six points and matched Overton with four rebounds. Williams finished his school-record 89th varsity game with five points and three assists, and Mike Alberson hit his only field goal try for three points.

“I don’t think we shot the ball like we’re capable of shooting it,” said Teagle of the 37-percent effort from the field. “We didn’t get to the free throw line as much as we wanted to.”

Still, he said he was happy with the way his team emerged at the end of the year to win its second straight sectional title. The Patriots, who lost in the regional title game last year, had won eight of nine before falling to Bellmont.

“It says a lot about the kids (to return to the regional), because we lost seven outstanding seniors from the year before,” said Teagle. “And, not just players, but good attitudes and kids that worked together as a team. It’s hard to replace that.

“This team did a nice job. The seniors stepped up and filled leadership roles. That’s a credit to the kids adjusting and adapting and finding ways to win. I’m very proud of the way they found ways to win tough games late. It says a lot about their character.”[[In-content Ad]]