July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Yuletide upset (12/22/07)
JCHS boys basketball
Yuletide upset (12/22/07)
By By RAY COONEY-
MUNCIE - "Santa Claus" made a halftime visit Friday night, passing out Christmas goodies to the Muncie Central fans. But it was the Patriots who had the holiday magic.
Not even St. Nick could present the host Bearcats with a win against the Patriots. JCHS, powered by Billy Wellman's 25 points, used a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter to claim control in a 51-46 victory, its first against the Bearcats at the Muncie Fieldhouse.
Jay County beat Central for the first time since 1998, snapping a streak of seven consecutive defeats. The Bearcats were 14th in the Class 4A poll voting by The Associated Press this week.
"I'm really proud of that group," said Patriot coach Craig Teagle, who was in his first season at the helm when they last defeated the Bearcats. "That's a great win. Especially for the seniors, because now they leave their mark on the program. Every team you want to leave their mark. That's their mark."
"It was pretty exciting," added Wellman, who scored 17 of Jay County's first 21 points en route to his career-high total. "It was probably the best game I've been a part of. We came out and executed our game plan from the beginning. We got down a little bit ... but stuck with it."
Wellman was able to keep the Patriots (3-3) in the game early, but they fell behind 35-25 thanks to a 13-2 Central run bridging the halftime break. They were still trailing by seven with six minutes to play before stunning the home crowd.
Adam Garringer buried a 3-pointer, the only one for the Patriots not tallied by Wellman, with 5:15 remaining, and Kyle Simmons scored after a pump fake to pull JCHS within two. Sensing the momentum shifting a way, Bearcat coach Matt Fine called a time-out.
The break didn't help matters for his Central team, as Tracy Johnson slammed into Garringer on the ensuing possession. He drew a charging foul, his fifth of the game, sending him to the bench after he had scored eight of the Bearcats' 12 third-quarter points.
Wellman followed with a pair of free throws to even the scored at 41. And after Central star John Peckinpaugh missed a pair from the line, Wellman buried his fourth 3-pointer of the contest to give the Patriots their first lead since late in the second quarter.
The Bearcats couldn't halt the run as Kyle Simmons scored off a Heath Rigby assist, and then Rigby hit a pair of free throws for a 48-41 Jay County lead. Rigby went on to make 5-of-6 foul shots in the final 1:20 to seal the victory.
"This was all about Jay County basketball players," said Teagle. "They did a great job at the end when we needed things done. They got stops on one end, we got great looks at the other, kept attacking the basket, and played pretty smart and patient at the end."
The Patriots overcame 19 turnovers thanks to outstanding work on the glass, pesky defense and a near-perfect night at the foul line.
Central (5-2) struggled to find open looks as JCHS tried to force them to fire away from the outside. The result was just 36 percent shooting for the Bearcats, including a paltry 3-of-15 (20 percent) from 3-point range.
Jay County missed just a single free throw, getting 4-of-4 marks from Wellman and Aaron Daniels and 5-of-6 from Rigby late in the game.
It also overcame a height disadvantage - Peckinpaugh leads the Central inside game at 6-feet-5-inches - to win the rebounding battle 23-19.
"Great team defense and free throws - that's really the equation on the road," said Teagle. "You've got to play great team defense. You've got to get to the free-throw line and knock in free throws. (It was) great on the kids' parts. I could name them individually, but every one of them had an important role tonight."
Wellman shot 8-of-14 (57 percent), including 5-of-8 from 3-point range. Simmons was the next highest scoring Patriot with six points, and Rigby and Garringer each added five.
Central, which went to the Class 4A state finals in 2005 and 2006, was up by 10 in the third quarter, but had chances to stretch the lead even further
It missed on at least three breakaway opportunities in the first half, including back-to-back miscues from Jeremiah Davis. The freshman came up short on a dunk attempt, and had a lay-up rim on the following possession.
The Bearcats also missed 10 free throws in the game, getting outscored 13-11 at the line despite the benefit of seven extra attempts.
"Jay County did a great job," said Fine. "Congratulations to their team and their coach. We got a lesson in execution tonight. They played with great purpose on both ends of the floor and had a nice game plan.
"We didn't deserve to win the game tonight. They out-rebounded us. We were 11-for-21 from the free-throw line. When you can't do any better than that in those categories, you don't deserve to win."
Jauwan Scaife paced Central with 15 points. Peckinpaugh added 12 points, although he shot just 3-of-9 from the field and 5-of-11 from the line to do so, and Johnson also scored 12 before fouling out.
The Patriots, who played inconsistent basketball in opening the season at 2-3, hope the victory can help catapult them threw the rest of the season.
"(The win was) huge," said Rigby. "Now we know that anybody we play we should be able to stay with."
"This game only means whatever happens the next five or six," added Teagle. "If you take this and use it to continue to improve and know where you can get when you do execute offensively and defensively, then this game means something. But this can't be the climax of your season.
"When we get into the sectional that's exactly the caliber teams we're going to be playing now. Now we know we can beat a team like that, which hopefully will help us at the end of the year."
Junior varsity
The Patriots couldn't sustain their early success, getting outscored in each of the final three quarters of a 42-32 loss to Central.
Jay County grabbed a 10-4 lead at the end of the first quarter, but was behind by two at the intermission. The Bearcats pushed to a four points lead after three quarters and pulled away in the fourth.
Anthony Mann led Central with a game-high 14 points, and Chris Dillard joined him in double figures with 10. Justin Dardin chipped in six points.
Eric Homan scored nine of his team-high 11 for the Patriots in the second half. Josh Beaty finished with nine points, and Brad Horn scored all of his six before the intermission.[[In-content Ad]]
Not even St. Nick could present the host Bearcats with a win against the Patriots. JCHS, powered by Billy Wellman's 25 points, used a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter to claim control in a 51-46 victory, its first against the Bearcats at the Muncie Fieldhouse.
Jay County beat Central for the first time since 1998, snapping a streak of seven consecutive defeats. The Bearcats were 14th in the Class 4A poll voting by The Associated Press this week.
"I'm really proud of that group," said Patriot coach Craig Teagle, who was in his first season at the helm when they last defeated the Bearcats. "That's a great win. Especially for the seniors, because now they leave their mark on the program. Every team you want to leave their mark. That's their mark."
"It was pretty exciting," added Wellman, who scored 17 of Jay County's first 21 points en route to his career-high total. "It was probably the best game I've been a part of. We came out and executed our game plan from the beginning. We got down a little bit ... but stuck with it."
Wellman was able to keep the Patriots (3-3) in the game early, but they fell behind 35-25 thanks to a 13-2 Central run bridging the halftime break. They were still trailing by seven with six minutes to play before stunning the home crowd.
Adam Garringer buried a 3-pointer, the only one for the Patriots not tallied by Wellman, with 5:15 remaining, and Kyle Simmons scored after a pump fake to pull JCHS within two. Sensing the momentum shifting a way, Bearcat coach Matt Fine called a time-out.
The break didn't help matters for his Central team, as Tracy Johnson slammed into Garringer on the ensuing possession. He drew a charging foul, his fifth of the game, sending him to the bench after he had scored eight of the Bearcats' 12 third-quarter points.
Wellman followed with a pair of free throws to even the scored at 41. And after Central star John Peckinpaugh missed a pair from the line, Wellman buried his fourth 3-pointer of the contest to give the Patriots their first lead since late in the second quarter.
The Bearcats couldn't halt the run as Kyle Simmons scored off a Heath Rigby assist, and then Rigby hit a pair of free throws for a 48-41 Jay County lead. Rigby went on to make 5-of-6 foul shots in the final 1:20 to seal the victory.
"This was all about Jay County basketball players," said Teagle. "They did a great job at the end when we needed things done. They got stops on one end, we got great looks at the other, kept attacking the basket, and played pretty smart and patient at the end."
The Patriots overcame 19 turnovers thanks to outstanding work on the glass, pesky defense and a near-perfect night at the foul line.
Central (5-2) struggled to find open looks as JCHS tried to force them to fire away from the outside. The result was just 36 percent shooting for the Bearcats, including a paltry 3-of-15 (20 percent) from 3-point range.
Jay County missed just a single free throw, getting 4-of-4 marks from Wellman and Aaron Daniels and 5-of-6 from Rigby late in the game.
It also overcame a height disadvantage - Peckinpaugh leads the Central inside game at 6-feet-5-inches - to win the rebounding battle 23-19.
"Great team defense and free throws - that's really the equation on the road," said Teagle. "You've got to play great team defense. You've got to get to the free-throw line and knock in free throws. (It was) great on the kids' parts. I could name them individually, but every one of them had an important role tonight."
Wellman shot 8-of-14 (57 percent), including 5-of-8 from 3-point range. Simmons was the next highest scoring Patriot with six points, and Rigby and Garringer each added five.
Central, which went to the Class 4A state finals in 2005 and 2006, was up by 10 in the third quarter, but had chances to stretch the lead even further
It missed on at least three breakaway opportunities in the first half, including back-to-back miscues from Jeremiah Davis. The freshman came up short on a dunk attempt, and had a lay-up rim on the following possession.
The Bearcats also missed 10 free throws in the game, getting outscored 13-11 at the line despite the benefit of seven extra attempts.
"Jay County did a great job," said Fine. "Congratulations to their team and their coach. We got a lesson in execution tonight. They played with great purpose on both ends of the floor and had a nice game plan.
"We didn't deserve to win the game tonight. They out-rebounded us. We were 11-for-21 from the free-throw line. When you can't do any better than that in those categories, you don't deserve to win."
Jauwan Scaife paced Central with 15 points. Peckinpaugh added 12 points, although he shot just 3-of-9 from the field and 5-of-11 from the line to do so, and Johnson also scored 12 before fouling out.
The Patriots, who played inconsistent basketball in opening the season at 2-3, hope the victory can help catapult them threw the rest of the season.
"(The win was) huge," said Rigby. "Now we know that anybody we play we should be able to stay with."
"This game only means whatever happens the next five or six," added Teagle. "If you take this and use it to continue to improve and know where you can get when you do execute offensively and defensively, then this game means something. But this can't be the climax of your season.
"When we get into the sectional that's exactly the caliber teams we're going to be playing now. Now we know we can beat a team like that, which hopefully will help us at the end of the year."
Junior varsity
The Patriots couldn't sustain their early success, getting outscored in each of the final three quarters of a 42-32 loss to Central.
Jay County grabbed a 10-4 lead at the end of the first quarter, but was behind by two at the intermission. The Bearcats pushed to a four points lead after three quarters and pulled away in the fourth.
Anthony Mann led Central with a game-high 14 points, and Chris Dillard joined him in double figures with 10. Justin Dardin chipped in six points.
Eric Homan scored nine of his team-high 11 for the Patriots in the second half. Josh Beaty finished with nine points, and Brad Horn scored all of his six before the intermission.[[In-content Ad]]
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