July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Rigby, Patriots clobber Elwood (03/01/06)
JCHS boys basketball
Rigby, Patriots clobber Elwood (03/01/06)
By By RAY COONEY-
HARTFORD CITY — Jay County has not seen a first-round bye in five seasons. But it doesn’t seem to matter.
The Patriots have not minded their first-round games, and Tuesday was no different as they hammered the Elwood Panthers 66-31 in first-round action at the Class 3A Blackford sectional.
The 25-point win for Jay County (15-6) moved them on to Friday’s semifinal round, where they will play the Tipton Blue Devils at 6 p.m. Tipton (11-10) reached the semifinals with a dramatic comeback to defeat Delta 57-56 in overtime in the first game of the night.
“Our kids were focused and played well,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose squad has won its five first-round games since moving to Class 3A by an average of 16 points. “Credit our kids. They came out focused, they came out intense. Even though we gave up too many offensive rebounds in the first half, we still played good defense besides that. Then we attacked the basket and got some good looks early. Then Tyler Rigby just read screens — whoever was guarding him was just so frustrated ... because he played so smart.”
Elwood will not be sad to see Rigby off the Patriots’ roster next season.
He lit up the Panthers in last season’s sectional opener, hitting six 3-pointers for a career-high 26 points in a 65-54 win. In this year’s season opener he scored Jay County’s first 11 points against Elwood, which was never close, and finished with 15.
The senior tortured the Panthers again Tuesday night. He scored 10 points in the first quarter as the Patriots jumped to a 22-7 lead. Then he added back-to-back 3-pointers in the second for a 28-11 lead, scoring 18 of his game-high 23 points in the opening half.
He shot 70 percent in the first half, and finished 5-of-6 from 3-point range.
“The last three games he’s killed us,” said Kyle Hobbs of Rigby. “He was the focus coming in. He’s just a good player, a really good shooter, moves well without the ball. We just didn’t have an answer for him.”
Rigby had plenty of help as Corey Comer, Scott “Scooter” Bruggeman and Billy Wellman each added eight points, and Zac Green scored seven.
John Retter grabbed eight rebounds, and Bruggeman dished out four assists.
Elwood (7-15) never challenged after falling into the early deficit. It turned the ball over eight times in the opening quarter — 21 for the game — and their team-high scoring total was eight points from senior Ryan Landrum. No other player had more than four points.
The Panthers were held to 21 points below their season scoring average. Their lowest output prior to Tuesday night was 38 points.
“The bottom line is, we just got beat by a better team,” said Hobbs. “We could play those guys numerous times, and the outcome may not be any different. ... We had a lot of turnovers early, which directly resulted in some easy points for them. It got them off to a good start and kind of flustered our guys. It was downhill from that point.”
Tipton 57, Delta 56 OT
Despite trailing by 10 points for a good portion of the second half, the Tipton Blue Devils hit a pair of buzzer-beating shots to tie the game in regulation then win it in overtime.
The Blue Devils (11-10) started hitting 3-pointers in the final four minutes to slice the deficit, much to the delight of both the Tipton and Jay County student sections. Those two groups teamed up, chanting in unison across the court from each other in an attempt to drown out the Delta Eagle fans and lift the trailing team.
Something clicked as the Blue Devils got to within two points late in the fourth quarter. On the final play Dejan Nedelkovski drove from the top of the key, drew a double team and found 6-foot-6-inch freshman Derek Elston underneath for the tying hoop just before time expired.
The teams traded the lead several times in the overtime period, with Tyler Ridge pushing Delta ahead by one on a long jumper with 20 seconds to go. But on the final Tipton possession Nedelkovski handed off to Matt Hodges on the right side, and the sophomore guard drove to the middle hit the game-winning, pull-up jumper from 15 feet with two seconds to go.[[In-content Ad]]
The Patriots have not minded their first-round games, and Tuesday was no different as they hammered the Elwood Panthers 66-31 in first-round action at the Class 3A Blackford sectional.
The 25-point win for Jay County (15-6) moved them on to Friday’s semifinal round, where they will play the Tipton Blue Devils at 6 p.m. Tipton (11-10) reached the semifinals with a dramatic comeback to defeat Delta 57-56 in overtime in the first game of the night.
“Our kids were focused and played well,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose squad has won its five first-round games since moving to Class 3A by an average of 16 points. “Credit our kids. They came out focused, they came out intense. Even though we gave up too many offensive rebounds in the first half, we still played good defense besides that. Then we attacked the basket and got some good looks early. Then Tyler Rigby just read screens — whoever was guarding him was just so frustrated ... because he played so smart.”
Elwood will not be sad to see Rigby off the Patriots’ roster next season.
He lit up the Panthers in last season’s sectional opener, hitting six 3-pointers for a career-high 26 points in a 65-54 win. In this year’s season opener he scored Jay County’s first 11 points against Elwood, which was never close, and finished with 15.
The senior tortured the Panthers again Tuesday night. He scored 10 points in the first quarter as the Patriots jumped to a 22-7 lead. Then he added back-to-back 3-pointers in the second for a 28-11 lead, scoring 18 of his game-high 23 points in the opening half.
He shot 70 percent in the first half, and finished 5-of-6 from 3-point range.
“The last three games he’s killed us,” said Kyle Hobbs of Rigby. “He was the focus coming in. He’s just a good player, a really good shooter, moves well without the ball. We just didn’t have an answer for him.”
Rigby had plenty of help as Corey Comer, Scott “Scooter” Bruggeman and Billy Wellman each added eight points, and Zac Green scored seven.
John Retter grabbed eight rebounds, and Bruggeman dished out four assists.
Elwood (7-15) never challenged after falling into the early deficit. It turned the ball over eight times in the opening quarter — 21 for the game — and their team-high scoring total was eight points from senior Ryan Landrum. No other player had more than four points.
The Panthers were held to 21 points below their season scoring average. Their lowest output prior to Tuesday night was 38 points.
“The bottom line is, we just got beat by a better team,” said Hobbs. “We could play those guys numerous times, and the outcome may not be any different. ... We had a lot of turnovers early, which directly resulted in some easy points for them. It got them off to a good start and kind of flustered our guys. It was downhill from that point.”
Tipton 57, Delta 56 OT
Despite trailing by 10 points for a good portion of the second half, the Tipton Blue Devils hit a pair of buzzer-beating shots to tie the game in regulation then win it in overtime.
The Blue Devils (11-10) started hitting 3-pointers in the final four minutes to slice the deficit, much to the delight of both the Tipton and Jay County student sections. Those two groups teamed up, chanting in unison across the court from each other in an attempt to drown out the Delta Eagle fans and lift the trailing team.
Something clicked as the Blue Devils got to within two points late in the fourth quarter. On the final play Dejan Nedelkovski drove from the top of the key, drew a double team and found 6-foot-6-inch freshman Derek Elston underneath for the tying hoop just before time expired.
The teams traded the lead several times in the overtime period, with Tyler Ridge pushing Delta ahead by one on a long jumper with 20 seconds to go. But on the final Tipton possession Nedelkovski handed off to Matt Hodges on the right side, and the sophomore guard drove to the middle hit the game-winning, pull-up jumper from 15 feet with two seconds to go.[[In-content Ad]]
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