July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Scots squeak past Jay Co. (01/28/06)
JCHS boys basketball
Scots squeak past Jay Co. (01/28/06)
By By RAY COONEY-
For three quarters the Patriots smirked at the odds stacked against them.
They were up against a 6-foot-10 post player with their tallest at 6-foot-3.
And they were missing not one starter, but two.
Led by Randy Evans’ 22 points on six 3-pointers, Jay County’s boys basketball team had a 10-point lead with just a period to play. But that advantage evaporated as the Anderson Highland Scots went on a 20-2 run before holding on for a 47-45 victory.
Coach Craig Teagle took his team to battle without seniors Tyler Rigby and John Retter, both sidelined with pneumonia, but felt his team gave away a victory.
“I’m disappointed,” he said. “I thought this team, even with the adversity of having a couple players out, once we got into the flow of the game I thought, ‘You know, as long as we play fundamentally sound and smart we’re going to be OK.’ And it’s unfortunate. Some of it obviously was fatigue.”
Fatigue, double and triple teams on Randy Evans, an inability to rebound and the emergence of Gary McGhee.
Evans scored 22 of his game-high 24 points in the opening three quarters before being hounded by the Scots’ defense in the fourth. Jay County couldn’t get anyone else rolling, getting just a hoop from Clint Muhlenkamp over the first 6:38 of the final period.
In the meantime McGhee, Highland’s towering center, finally found his way to the basket. He scored the Scots’ first four points of the final quarter and had 12 of his team-high 19 in the fourth.
“They did a good job of making sure he was off the block,” said Highland coach Phil Spoljaric, whose team improved to 6-8 overall and 1-2 in the Olympic Athletic Conference. “He’s got to be able to score and finish around the bucket more, but he came through when it really mattered.”
After Muhlenkamp’s score with 5:02 to go in the game, the Patriots gave up a string of offensive rebounds, allowing Highland to kick-start its run of 18 consecutive points without much time going off the clock.
The Scots tied the game on a put-back with 3:48 to go, then continued to roll to a 45-37 advantage. By the time Jay County finally scored again — off a steal and assist from Luke Goetz to Scott Bruggeman — it was fighting to stay in the game.
The Patriots got close, scoring four points in the final eight seconds, but ran out of time.
“We really struggled offensively there for three quarters,” said Spoljaric, whose team had five points in the first quarter and six in the third before erupting for 22 in the fourth. “To be a four-point game at half was almost rewarding for us as poorly as we played.”
With McGhee starting on the bench, Jay County (9-3) scored the game’s first 11 points. It remained up 11 at the quarter break, but the Scots cut the deficit to 23-19 at halftime.
The Patriot lead pushed back to 10 points in the third quarter before McGhee and company wrestled the game away in the fourth.
Jay County managed to finish with a 32-30 rebounding advantage, but its inability to keep the Scots off the offensive glass in the fourth quarter proved costly. McGhee finished with nine boards, and Jesse Reynold had 12 points and six rebounds. Nicholas Goins added nine points.
Teagle said his team’s failure to do the little things, which has won it games all year, keyed the defeat.
“If you want to look at why we lost that game it’s because we didn’t play smart enough to win it,” said Teagle, whose team lost at home for the first time this season after six straight victories. “Eighteen turnovers, it was careless stuff — moving our pivot foot when there was no pressure on us, forcing passes where there was no place to put the pass ...”
Jay County (9-3, 1-2 OAC) missed six of its first seven free throw attempts, finishing 6-of-13 from the foul line. Highland was 17-of-27 from the line, scoring 12 of their fourth-quarter points from the line.
Both teams finished with 19 turnovers.
Senior Zac Green followed Evans for the Patriots, who shot just 33 percent, with nine points. He also had eight rebounds.
Muhlenkamp grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, Evans had six boards and Bruggeman notched six assists.
Junior varsity
Jay County gave away its halftime lead, but came back in the closing minutes for a 34-31 victory over the Scots.
econd half, the Patriots fell behind by three in the fourth quarter. But after pulling even, Rhett Retter hit a 3-pointer with 1:15 remaining to put them back on top.
Highland failed to get a shot off on its final possession, turning the ball over on the inbound after Josh Selvey gave a foul.
Adam Garringer paced the Patriots with 12 points, and Retter finished with six.
Zach Bailey scored 11 points to lead the Scots.[[In-content Ad]]
They were up against a 6-foot-10 post player with their tallest at 6-foot-3.
And they were missing not one starter, but two.
Led by Randy Evans’ 22 points on six 3-pointers, Jay County’s boys basketball team had a 10-point lead with just a period to play. But that advantage evaporated as the Anderson Highland Scots went on a 20-2 run before holding on for a 47-45 victory.
Coach Craig Teagle took his team to battle without seniors Tyler Rigby and John Retter, both sidelined with pneumonia, but felt his team gave away a victory.
“I’m disappointed,” he said. “I thought this team, even with the adversity of having a couple players out, once we got into the flow of the game I thought, ‘You know, as long as we play fundamentally sound and smart we’re going to be OK.’ And it’s unfortunate. Some of it obviously was fatigue.”
Fatigue, double and triple teams on Randy Evans, an inability to rebound and the emergence of Gary McGhee.
Evans scored 22 of his game-high 24 points in the opening three quarters before being hounded by the Scots’ defense in the fourth. Jay County couldn’t get anyone else rolling, getting just a hoop from Clint Muhlenkamp over the first 6:38 of the final period.
In the meantime McGhee, Highland’s towering center, finally found his way to the basket. He scored the Scots’ first four points of the final quarter and had 12 of his team-high 19 in the fourth.
“They did a good job of making sure he was off the block,” said Highland coach Phil Spoljaric, whose team improved to 6-8 overall and 1-2 in the Olympic Athletic Conference. “He’s got to be able to score and finish around the bucket more, but he came through when it really mattered.”
After Muhlenkamp’s score with 5:02 to go in the game, the Patriots gave up a string of offensive rebounds, allowing Highland to kick-start its run of 18 consecutive points without much time going off the clock.
The Scots tied the game on a put-back with 3:48 to go, then continued to roll to a 45-37 advantage. By the time Jay County finally scored again — off a steal and assist from Luke Goetz to Scott Bruggeman — it was fighting to stay in the game.
The Patriots got close, scoring four points in the final eight seconds, but ran out of time.
“We really struggled offensively there for three quarters,” said Spoljaric, whose team had five points in the first quarter and six in the third before erupting for 22 in the fourth. “To be a four-point game at half was almost rewarding for us as poorly as we played.”
With McGhee starting on the bench, Jay County (9-3) scored the game’s first 11 points. It remained up 11 at the quarter break, but the Scots cut the deficit to 23-19 at halftime.
The Patriot lead pushed back to 10 points in the third quarter before McGhee and company wrestled the game away in the fourth.
Jay County managed to finish with a 32-30 rebounding advantage, but its inability to keep the Scots off the offensive glass in the fourth quarter proved costly. McGhee finished with nine boards, and Jesse Reynold had 12 points and six rebounds. Nicholas Goins added nine points.
Teagle said his team’s failure to do the little things, which has won it games all year, keyed the defeat.
“If you want to look at why we lost that game it’s because we didn’t play smart enough to win it,” said Teagle, whose team lost at home for the first time this season after six straight victories. “Eighteen turnovers, it was careless stuff — moving our pivot foot when there was no pressure on us, forcing passes where there was no place to put the pass ...”
Jay County (9-3, 1-2 OAC) missed six of its first seven free throw attempts, finishing 6-of-13 from the foul line. Highland was 17-of-27 from the line, scoring 12 of their fourth-quarter points from the line.
Both teams finished with 19 turnovers.
Senior Zac Green followed Evans for the Patriots, who shot just 33 percent, with nine points. He also had eight rebounds.
Muhlenkamp grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, Evans had six boards and Bruggeman notched six assists.
Junior varsity
Jay County gave away its halftime lead, but came back in the closing minutes for a 34-31 victory over the Scots.
econd half, the Patriots fell behind by three in the fourth quarter. But after pulling even, Rhett Retter hit a 3-pointer with 1:15 remaining to put them back on top.
Highland failed to get a shot off on its final possession, turning the ball over on the inbound after Josh Selvey gave a foul.
Adam Garringer paced the Patriots with 12 points, and Retter finished with six.
Zach Bailey scored 11 points to lead the Scots.[[In-content Ad]]
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