Struggling to score

YORKTOWN - Scoring has become a major issue.

On Tuesday, the problems came in the first three quarters, when the Patriots managed just 14 points. A night later, they couldn't find the hoop in the fourth.

Jay County had the lead through 24 minutes, but managed just two points in the final period in a 31-27 loss the Yorktown Tigers.

After shooting nearly 50 percent for the first three quarters, the Patriots went 1-of-11 in the fourth.

"We missed 11 shots around the rim, probably nine of them were actual lay-ups," said JCHS coach Craig Teagle of the overall offensive struggles. "And if you can't hit lay-ups, you're not going to win very many basketball games."

The Patriots (9-8) dropped the game despite holding Yorktown to just 28 percent shooting and seven field goals for the entire game. The Tigers had just two points in the first quarter.

The difference came at the free-throw line, where Yorktown had 19 attempts compared to just two for JCHS. While their percentage (63) wasn't all that impressive, they scored all of the seven fourth-quarter points from the line.

Five of those came from senior Elliott Kampen, who shot just 2-of-9 from the field but scored nine of his game-high 14 on free throws. He also had seven rebounds.

"The free throw line is very important. We've been talking about that the last three or four games," said Yorktown coach Blake Everhart, a former Teagle assistant at JCHS. "You can't win a sectional if you're not getting to the free-throw line. We knew that against Jay County we would have to (get to the line).

"Elliott is a pretty good player. He's just steady. ... He stays even keel. He's very good at what he does."

Both teams went scoreless for the first 4:30 of the final period before Kampen went to the line with 3:28 remaining and his team trailing by two. He made the first to tie the game and then missed the second, but the Tigers (12-7) pulled down the rebound and Kampen ended up back at the line.

He buried both free throws, and added two more with 39 seconds left to make it 29-25.

"Two huge possessions in the fourth quarter we missed block outs on free throws," said Teagle. "And they're not that big of a team, and there's no reason in the world that you can't block somebody out on the free-throw line ...

"We have no one to blame but ourselves.

"You've got to hit shots, and you've got to block people out."

Jay County scored its only points of the period on a determined drive along the right side of the lane by freshman Brock McFarland with 14 seconds to go. But the Tigers' Zach Roberts responded with two more free throws to extend the lead back to four, and the Patriots missed three shots on their final possession.

Eric Homan finished with 10 points and eight rebounds to lead Jay County, which has scored in single digits in six of the last eight quarters. The Patriots shot a combined 24-of-74 (32 percent) Tuesday and Wednesday.

Outside shooting has never been the 2009-10 squad's forte, but during its 5-0 run to start the year it was turning in a high field-goal percentage by working the ball inside. In Tuesday's loss to Norwell, the Patriots simply found it difficult to get the ball close to the basket.

That was not the case Wednesday at Yorktown.

"I'd love to say that we played great defense, but when we look at the shot chart ... we see all these shots coming from the paint," said Everhart. "That's not at all what we're trying to do. We're trying to force 3-point shots ..."

Both coaches expressed that it's difficult to coach against a close friend, but it was a big game for both teams.

It was the fourth straight win for Yorktown, which had lost each of its previous two meetings against the Patriots.

"It's a great win for our team," said Everhart. "It's very important for our guys to get a win like this. ... It's very important to beat a team like Jay County.

"Personally, you always like to win, but you always feel bad about the guy on the other end. It's bitter sweet. As a competitor, you like to win. As a friend, you hate it."

The Patriots are now 4-8 in their last 12 games after opening with five straight wins. They can still guarantee themselves of a ninth straight winning season with a victory at home Friday over Maconaquah.

"We need to find a win on Friday night," said Teagle. "We need some momentum. It's going to be difficult because Maconaquah has been playing well."

Junior varsity

Jay County managed just a single third-quarter point in a 29-28 loss to the Tigers.

The Patriots (11-6) rallied to take the lead, but Yorktown reclaimed the advantage late. Austin Cowan's 3-point try at the buzzer was just off the mark.

Seth Cook led Yorktown to the victory, hitting a trio of 3-pointers on the way to scoring 11 points. Jon Haley, Joe Todd and Aaron Simpson each had four points.

Alex Dunn carried the JCHS scoring load after the intermission as he scored all of his points on three second-half 3-pointers. Drew Houck had all of his seven points in the first half.[[In-content Ad]]