Smart JC slams Devils (02/13/06)

“Smart, heart, intense, together, execute, 32 minutes.”

It’s the mantra Jay County coach Craig Teagle preaches to his players constantly, repeating it in the huddle before the start of every game.

In the Patriots’ three recent losses, Teagle said the effort was there but the “smart” part was missing. Saturday afternoon, that wasn’t a problem.

The Tipton Blue Devils got out-worked and out-executed as Jay County bounced back from Thursday’s two-point loss to Delta with a 53-35 victory.

“Our kids worked extremely hard, but that’s been our forte all year,” said Teagle whose team simply ran out the clock over the final four minutes. “We played a lot smarter. When we took the lead we took care of the basketball and attacked the basket when it was there.”

Grabbing a lead was no problem for the Patriots (12-5) as they scored 11 straight points after giving up the opening bucket of the game. Their lead never slipped to fewer than seven points.

Tyler Rigby scored eight of Jay County’s first 14 points as the home team was up by nine after the opening quarter and 11 at halftime. He finished with a game-high 15.

The Blue Devils made a brief run in the third quarter, but the Patriots limited them to just five points in the fourth.

Teagle said he was pleased with the effort as Tipton (8-9) was the last team to defeat Delta, which topped the Patriots for its 10th straight win just two days earlier.

“I felt the kids executed very well,” said Teagle. “(The Blue Devils) are really athletic. They’ve got good shooters and a really good point guard. I just felt like the difference was execution. It wouldn’t have mattered who we played today.”

Joining Rigby in double figures was John Retter, who made all of his four free-throws and finished with 10 points. Clint Muhlenkamp also went 4-of-4 from the line, scoring eight points as the Patriots made 12 of their 14 foul shots.

Scott “Scooter” Bruggeman had eight points and three assists, and Corey Comer added seven points.

Jay County’s effort was evidenced on the glass where it grabbed nearly twice as many rebounds as the Blue Devils — 31-16. Muhlenkamp finished with seven boards, and Comer and Retter each had five.

“That stat kind of epitomizes the day for us,” said Tipton coach Travis Daugherty of the rebounding margin. “Every rebound they were quicker too, every loose ball. They just completely out-played us.

“We just got beat up in every facet of the game. Physically, mentally they were just tougher than us from the very beginning.”

Shawn Friend was the only Tipton player to reach double figures, finishing with 12 points. Six-foot-six-inch freshman Derek Elston added seven points, and three other Blue Devils had four.

Elston and Friend each grabbed four rebounds, and Dejan Nedlekovski had three assists.

Junior varsity

Nate Whilser’s half-court bomb did the Patriots in as they lost to Tipton, 54-49.

Jay County fought back from a nine-point halftime deficit, pulling to within one when Rhett Retter hit one of his five 3-pointers with five seconds left in the third quarter. But Whisler swished a triple from beyond halfcourt just before the third-period buzzer, and the Patriots never pulled closer than four points in the fourth.

Retter racked up 22 points in the Jay County defeat, and Heath Rigby scored 12. Spencer Hummer added eight points.

Whisler and Nate Massey each scored 14 points for the Blue Devils.[[In-content Ad]]