Tourney begins tonight

It’s tourney time.
As the Jay County High School boys and girls basketball teams begin the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament tonight, excitement level is high, for both squads.
Not just the players, either.
“I’m excited about it,” said boys coach Craig Teagle, whose team enters the tournament with an 8-2 (2-1 ACAC) record. “It’s more like sectional week for us.
“I think it’s great. The kids are excited about it too. They want to go out and make a good showing, especially being their first year in the conference.”
Justin Dirksen echoed Teagle’s sentiment.
“I think it will be cool to play in the conference tournament for the first time,” the senior guard said.
The Patriot squads open tonight against the Southern Wells Raiders in Poneto. The winner will advance to play either the Bluffton Tigers or Adams Central Jets. The Jets host the Tigers in Monroe.
In the top half of the bracket, the Heritage Patriots travel to take on the Woodlan Warriors, and the South Adams Starfires host the Leo Lions.
All opening round games will be doubleheaders, with the boys games set to tip off at 6 p.m. and the girls to follow at 7:30.
The boys semifinal is slated for 7 p.m. Wednesday with the girls games at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Championship games will be Saturday at the StarDome in Berne, with the boys’ title game set to tip at 6 p.m. and the girls to follow.
Jay County’s girls squad has a big advantage when it begins its inaugural season playing in the ACAC tournament. The Patriots sit at 10-3 on the season and are a perfect 5-0 in the conference so far. They’ve beaten defending conference champion Woodlan, Leo, Adams Central, South Adams and Bluffton, but have yet to play a regular-season contest against Southern Wells and Heritage.
While the Patriots may have the upper hand as they enter the tournament having not lost a conference matchup, coach Chris Krieg said his team will be the squad the rest of the teams are gunning for.
“It puts a big target on our back,” said Krieg, whose team bounced back from consecutive losses against Fort Recovery and Fort Wayne Concordia with a 46-32 victory Saturday at Bluffton. “Obviously these next three (games) are huge for us because we’re coming in 5-0.
“They want to beat us, because looking at our record, we’re the top, so we have to come with our A-game. We’re going to work our butts off to make sure we’re in that situation.”
Sophomore guard Taylor Homan said the familiarity with the rest of the conference benefits Jay County in that it should know what to expect from each team.
“I think we have a little more of an insight of what we’re going up against and what we need to do to make it better,” she said.
If the Patriots win, they will host the semifinal game regardless of what happens between Adams Central and Bluffton.
Both Krieg and Teagle are looking forward to the chance to play a tournament game on their home court.
“We want to host this,” Krieg said. “We haven’t played at home in quite a bit of time. We’re hitting a stretch where we’re on the road, and when you’re playing on the road you never know what you’re going to get.
“We are very, very comfortable (on our home court).”
Teagle, whose team will have a quick turnaround and without much time to prepare for the semifinal should it win tonight, says getting to play that second game at home is a huge advantage.
“Playing back to back, especially like that, you’re not going to have the benefit of preparing,” he said. “You just have to play, so it’s better that you’re going to be on your home floor.
“You don’t have the travel time so that will be a better atmosphere for our kids, an environment they’re most comfortable and used to.”
But neither team is looking too far ahead, instead focusing on tonight’s matchup with Southern Wells.
Krieg and his Patriots will meet a Raider squad that is 5-9 overall and 1-4 in the conference. Its only conference victory was against Adams Central on Nov. 29. Since then, it has lost to Bluffton, Heritage, Leo and South Adams. Southern Wells is a Class 1A school, and has won eight straight sectional titles, including regional crowns in 2008 and 2009.
Jay County’s boys meet a Southern Wells team that has an eight-game losing streak after winning its season opener against North Miami. It is 0-3 in the ACAC with losses to Adams Central, Bluffton and Heritage.
Although Teagle’s squad is riding a four-game winning streak, he’s not taking the struggling Raiders lightly.
“We’re hoping, obviously, to use (the winning streak) to continue to play well,” he said. “Even though we still won those games, there are still a lot of correctable errors.
“I still think there are areas we can improve on.”