Schlosser, JC surge past Tigers

The Tigers made it a point to slow down Jay Houck.

Houck, the Patriots’ leading scorer, was double- and triple-teamed whenever he touched the basketball in the first half.

What the Tigers didn’t account for, however, was his classmate, Jason Schlosser.

Schlosser had a game- and career-high 22 points, including the go-ahead bucket midway through the fourth quarter, in helping the Jay County High School boys basketball team to a 54-40 victory Tuesday over Yorktown.

“They put a lot of pressure on Jay and I, but our team helped us pull through,” said Schlosser, who set a career-high point total in back-to-back games. He poured in 20 points in a rout of the Burris Owls on Thursday. “Without them getting our looks we wouldn’t have scored those points.”

Schlosser had seven of his 11 first-half points in the second quarter.

The first of those came as he stole the ball near the right wing, ran the length of the court and absorbed a foul as the ball went through the hoop. It put Jay County (2-3) ahead 15-13 before Yorktown’s Bobby Smith gave the Tigers (1-4) a 16-15 lead. On the next trip down the court, Schlosser drained a 3-pointer from the left corner on an assist from Houck, who dished another helper to Schlosser for two more points on the Patriots’ next possession.

“Jason stepped up and did a great job,” said Krieg, whose team plays four games in eight days leading up to Christmas break.

Jay County travels to Delta on Friday, hosts state-line rival Fort Recovery on Saturday and hits the road again Tuesday against Winchester.

“I thought they did a nice job getting Schlosser involved down low and loading us up down there,” Yorktown coach Greg Miller said.

Jay County stretched its lead to 33-27 midway through the third quarter on back-to-back buckets from Schlosser. Houck tallied the assist on the first, and Holton Hill threw a pass the length of the court for another Schlosser basket.

The 6-foot, 5-inch senior was 9-for-10 from the field and made three of his seven free throws. He also shared the team high of six rebounds with Houck.

“Once I started hitting shots I knew it was going to be hard for them to stop me so I kept attacking the basketball,” Schlosser said. “My confidence level was through the roof which allowed me to be successful.”

Schlosser’s final field goal broke a 38-38 tie in the fourth quarter. As the Tigers started to put more pressure on him it opened the court for Houck, who was second on the team with 15 points after averaging 22.5 points per game entering the contest.

Houck, who eventually fouled out with 65 seconds remaining, drove the lane for a finger roll and was fouled. He made the subsequent free-throw amidst a 10-0 run for the Patriots, as they pushed the lead to 50-39. Houck had another bucket during the stretch as well.

“I thought they did a great job of their players making really good plays down the stretch and staying in their offense to involve them,” Miller said. Cole Stigleman tacked on eight points, and Michael Schlechty added five for the Patriots. “We tried to do some trapping there late and I think it wore on us a little bit.

“The offense we had for the first three and a half quarters just went away and they stretched the lead.”

Yorktown used the long ball to stay with Jay County in the first half, as five of its six field goals in the first 16 minutes were from behind the arc. Brogan Miller hit a triple from each wing in the first quarter, and Bobby Smith added one from the right wing. Sullivan Swingley and Smith each had 3-pointers in the second quarter, with Smith’s giving the Tigers a brief 19-18 lead.

“I’m not a big fan of living and dying by the three,” said Greg Miller, whose team was 6-of-20 from 3-point land. Smith scored 14 points as the only Tiger player to reach double figures.



Junior varsity

Parker Grimes scored 12 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter but Jay County’s rally fell short in a 51-44 loss to Yorktown.

Jay County had an 11-6 advantage after seven minutes, but a 15-6 edge by Yorktown gave the visitors a 21-17 lead at intermission. The Tigers pulled away in the third quarter to lead 35-24 heading into the final period, before the Patriots (2-3) got within two, 44-42, but couldn’t overcome the deficit despite a 20-point effort.

Gave Faulkner scored eight points to finish second on the team for Jay County. Jordan Stultz and Wyatt Geesaman had three points apiece, while Gavin Randall added two.

Reid Neil led Yorktown with 15 points and Presley Jones chipped in a dozen.