Schlosser sinks Falcons

WINCHESTER — Confidence is key in the game of basketball.

No one on the Patriot roster has more of it right now than Jason Schlosser.

The senior had another career night Tuesday with perhaps his best all-around game in helping the Jay County High School boys basketball team to a 64-51 victory against the Winchester Golden Falcons.

“Just a lot of confidence in myself and confidence my team has put into me,” said Schlosser, who poured in a game-high 27 points, hauled in seven rebounds and finished with six assists.

“Honestly in the first half he just shot lights out,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg, whose team moves to 3-4 on the year and hosts state-line rival Fort Recovery on Tuesday. “They left him open.”

Schlosser said he knew during warm ups he had his shot on point, as he made baskets from all over the court.

When they counted, not much changed.

The 6-foot, 5-inch, forward hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter, scoring all but one of the Patriots’ 10 points as the trailed by one at the break.

An Isaiah Jordan-Miller triple — he led Winchester (4-2) with five baskets from beyond the 3-point line and finished with 21 points — and a basket from Michael Georgi gave the Golden Falcons a 16-10 lead midway through the second quarter. But Jay Houck (16 points) drained his only long-range shot on an assist from Ryan Schlechty before Schlosser stole the ensuing inbound pass for a quick two points to make it 16-15 Winchester.

Then in the final seconds before halftime, Schlosser had the ball near the left wing, head-faked a move to his left and pulled up for a 23-footer just before intermission and an 18-16 JCHS lead. From the second quarter through the fourth, Schlosser made seven straight baskets.

“Jason can shoot,” Krieg said. Schlosser finished 11-for-14 from the field. “He can hit you three or four in a row like he did. I’m just thanking God he was.”

He helped make up for a Patriot offense that despite shooting 24-of-30 (80 percent) still turned the ball over 17 times, a dozen of which came during the first half.

“It is amazing (we still had the lead), because we shot the ball extremely well,” Krieg said.

After spending most of the first half doing the scoring, Schlosser switched roles in the beginning of the third quarter by getting his teammates involved. He assisted on consecutive baskets by Houck, found a streaking Holton Hill for an easy lay up and then dished to Houck once again. 

His fourth straight assist — the Patriots finished with helpers on 17 of their 24 field goals — gave Jay County a 26-20 lead. Schlosser then drove to the hoop himself to lay the ball in. Two possessions later Winchester cut the eight-point deficit to six when Georgi hit a baseline runner before he was fouled.

The Golden Falcons never got as close again.

“We talked about (Schlosser and Houck) quite a bit in our prep work and in our scouting report and our film work,” said Winchester coach Matt Fine. “This is the second time in a row, the second game in a row we haven’t done a good job of finding their best players … just not a very good job of recognition.”

Winchester’s 3-point shooting kept it in the game for the first 16 minutes, as four of its six field goals in the opening half were from long distance. But as time wore on, the Golden Falcons started getting desperate, chucking up deep shots that were most often contested.

“We were shooting threes by passing it around the perimeter,” Fine said. The Golden Falcons finished 6-of-24 from behind the arc. “You’re not going to score like that. You have to get the ball to the paint. We don’t have a post guy but we have to do a better job of playing offense.”

Schlosser scored five of the Patriots’ first seven points of the fourth quarter and his final basket of the game — on an assist from Houck — gave Jay County its biggest lead of the night, 53-35.

“I would say I’m proud of my performance and I’m proud of my team for coming back after a loss (Friday) to Delta,” Schlosser said. The Patriots had lost all three of their road games this season. “We played a great game as a whole besides a few too many turnovers.

“I’m just glad we got our win on the road and I’m ready for the rest of the season.”

Winchester got as close as 10 points in the final minute, but Jay County kept its double-digit lead thanks to free throws.



Junior varsity

A 23-point third quarter helped Jay County defeat Winchester, 50-39.

The Patriots (4-3) led 12-9 after the first quarter but fell behind 23-19 at halftime. Winchester scored the first five points of the second half before the Patriots went on a tear, including a seven-point effort from Parker Grimes. He led all players with 15 points.

Jay County took a 42-33 advantage into the final quarter and kept its lead.

Xavier Ninde was second for the Patriots with 10 points. Korbin Auker and Gabe Link each chipped in eight points, while Gavin Randall added four points. Noah Arbuckle and Matthew Franks scored two points apiece, and Gabe Faulkner finished with one free throw.



Freshman

A solid defensive effort in the second quarter propelled the Patriots to a 47-31 victory against the Golden Falcons.

After leading 10-7 to start the second, Jay County (2-3) held Winchester to just two points while scoring 14 at the other end. It led 24-9 at half and 36-17 heading into the final period before doing just enough to sustain its double-digit advantage.

Brayden Sprunger and Gabe LInk had 11 points each to lead Jay County, which got eight points from Noah Arbuckle and Gavin Lambert. Sheldon Upp and Brinnin Wasson tallied four points each, and Peyton Nichols contributed two points.