JC defense stops Bruins

HARTFORD CITY — The Patriot defense proved to be too much yet again.
The Jay County High School boys basketball team, which has the top-ranked defense in the state, kept Blackford off the scoreboard in the second quarter on its way to a 52-23 clubbing of the host Bruins.
It was the fourth time this season the Patriots have held an opponent scoreless for a period. They kept Muncie Central without a point in the fourth quarter Nov. 26, blanked Winchester in overtime Dec. 23 and prevented Southern Wells from scoring in the opening quarter of the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament Jan. 13.
“They just set the tone,” Blackford coach Tory Burkhart said of the Patriots. “Jay County is the cream of the crop defensively in the entire state. They build frustration when they mount four, five, six, seven stops in a row.
“That frustration causes a lot of teams — and we’re no different — to make mistakes.”
Jay County (14-3) started to build its momentum defensively late in the first quarter. After Jacob Tobey hit a turnaround jumper to get Blackford (0-18) to within one, 6-5, the Patriots went on their first run of seven or more points.
The offensive production was aided by a missed shot and turnovers on three straight possessions by Blackford.
Adam Dirksen, who shared the game high in scoring with 14 points, sparked a streak of eight consecutive points by the Patriots. Jay Houck, who also finished with 14 points, scored on back-to-back possessions, and Justin Dirksen grabbed an offensive rebound on a missed free throw, and put it back for two points.
Blackford’s Joel Sharp scored the first two of his team-high seven points late in the quarter to make it 14-7 heading into the second.
It was then that Jay County tightened up defensively, limiting the offensive opportunities for the host Bruins. Blackford missed all six of its shots in the frame and committed four turnovers.
“We communicated when they got the ball,” Adam Dirksen said. The junior big man also grabbed a game-high six rebounds, had a pair of assists and tallied two blocks. “Whenever they dribbled, we tried to stop them from driving to the hoop.”
JCHS coach Craig Teagle said his offense didn’t play particularly well despite its 14-0 run spanning the second and third quarters.
“I thought our second quarter was really good defensively,” said Teagle, whose team has won at least four straight games for the third time this season. “I don’t think we executed very well offensively, but our defense really picked up.”
With the exception of two plays in the third quarter, Jay County kept the clamps on the Bruins’ offense. Austin Felver hit a 3-pointer from the left corner on a scramble play, and following a missed layup by Jay County, Sharp grabbed the rebound, went coast-to-coast for the bucket at the other while drawing a foul. He sank the ensuing free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play.
“Two plays cost (us) six points,” Teagle said of the rare defensive mishaps by the Patriots. “Besides that, if (we) take that away, the third quarter is pretty good defensively.”
And that’s also when Jay County’s offense was the most productive. It had runs of nine and seven points, during which Kyler Carvel netted six of his eight points and Justin Dirksen hit the team’s only 3-pointer on a contested shot from the left corner with three seconds remaining.
Dirksen’s triple capped off a 20-point quarter — just the second time this season Jay County has reached that mark — that allowed the streaking Patriots to push its lead to 44-13 after three.
Junior varsity
A hot start by Jay County slowly fizzled in the final three quarters, but the Patriot defense strengthened as the game went on in a 48-23 victory.
The Patriots (9-5) jumped out to a 15-7 lead after the opening frame, and pushed its lead to 29-14 at halftime. Blackford managed only nine points in the final 14 minutes.
Justin Crouch and Ryan Burkett scored 10 points apiece to lead Jay County, which had eight players hit the scorebook. Spencer Calvert followed with eight points, Dakota Grove tallied six and Jason Schlosser had four. Cole Stigleman and Kyler Hudson both had three points, and Bryce Hensley and Bryan Stancliffe had two points apiece.
Blackford’s Ethan Huffman had a game-high 12 points, including all of the Bruins’ scoring in the opening frame