Upset bid falls short

By CHRIS SCHANZ
The Commercial Review
Jay Houck had been one of the Patriots’ go-to players all night.
He already had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Trailing the defending state champions by two with 17 seconds left in overtime, he was the one Jay County coach Chris Krieg wanted with the ball.
Homestead prevented the junior from getting the ball, so the next best option was senior Kyler Carvel, who had scored 13 of his 17 points during the fourth quarter.
Carvel got the ball deep in the right corner, had it knocked away and junior Jason Schlosser’s desperation potential game-tying shot missed the mark as the Jay County High School boys basketball team fell short Monday against the Homestead Spartans, 53-51.
“Just get it inside,” Carvel, who played his final home game as a Patriot, said of the plan when Krieg called a timeout with 17.2 seconds left in the extra period. “That is where we got all of our points all night. We just couldn’t finish.
“It’s tough. They are a sectional opponent. I thought we played pretty good overall. We had to finish at the end. That is what cost us, I feel like.”
Homestead coach Chris Johnson said he was fortunate to escape with a win even though the Spartans, who finished 15th in the most recent Class 4A Associated Press poll, weren’t able to play to their pace.
“We knew coming in here it was going to be tough,” said Johnson, whose team moves to 15-5 and plays Huntington North in the opening round of the sectional tournament on March 1. “You think that you can speed them up; you can’t speed them up.
“They are well disciplined with the basketball. They made us look like we were in quicksand tonight, which is a little disappointing from that standpoint. Again, anytime you can get a victory out of here, we’ll take it.”
A pair of Carvel free throws gave Jay County (16-6) a 49-47 lead less than a minute into overtime, but a baseline jumper from Brandon Durnell and two bonus free throws from Tahj Curry put the Spartans ahead 51-49 with 2:10 remaining. Carvel, who set a career high in scoring, drove the left baseline for two points to tie the score again at 51.
On the other end of the court Curry, who scored 20 of his game-high 24 points after intermission, drove to the basket and put the Spartans ahead for good.
Krieg called a timeout with 42 seconds remaining to draw up the final play, and the Spartans prevented the Patriots from getting the ball to the right guy, Houck. So Krieg called another timeout with 17 seconds left.
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Jay County wasn’t able to find Houck. Carvel, who was at the top of the key, dribbled to the right side of the court, got the ball knocked out of his hands and it bounced to Schlosser for the final shot.
“It got deflected and we just had to throw something up at that point in time,” said Krieg, whose team never trailed by more than four points. “It is what it is. You have to try to do something.
“Am I disappointed in the loss? Yes. Am I feeling really good going into sectional? Yes. We have to play with this mentality.”
Carvel scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter for Jay County, which led 37-32 — the biggest lead for either team — on a 3-pointer from the right wing and a fast break bucket off a rebound from Houck.
But a trio of 3-pointers — two from Curry and one from Durnell — helped the Spartans close the gap and tie the score at 43.
Homestead junior Parker Manges drained a three from the left corner with 2:15 to play in regulation, and after consecutive misses by the Patriots, Curry dribbled the ball near midcourt in front of the scorer’s table for more than a minute as the Patriot defense backed off.
“There is no sense to let them have the last-second shot,” Johnson said. “Once we tied it up we said if they’re not going to come out and guard us let’s go for one.”
With time in regulation running out, Curry drove left and took a long step-back, potential game-winning field goal from the left baseline but it hit the front of the rim.
 “They are just solid,” Krieg said. “They move the ball so well. They are very unselfish, but when push comes to shove and they need a basket, man you know who’s got the ball.
“We just didn’t have an answer for him.”

Junior varsity
A slow start proved too costly for Jay County in a 43-26 loss to Homestead.
The Patriots (12-6) were behind 7-2 after the first quarter, and trailed 14-8 at halftime. A 16-point effort in the third quarter gave the Spartans a 30-18 advantage heading into the final period.
JCHS sophomore Max Moser drained two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to finish with a team-high 11 points. Ryan Schlechty followed with seven points and Andrew Trewyn chipped in with three.
Homestead’s Kade Kolpien had a game-high 12 points, all of which came from behind the 3-point line.

Freshman
Jay County’s freshman team fell to 13-5 with a 40-35 defeat to Homestead.
Jay County trailed 15-6 after the opening quarter, but rallied to cut the deficit to two points, 21-19, at half. The Spartans outscored the Patriots 9-7 during the third quarter for a 30-26 advantage after three quarters.
Wyatt Geesaman led Jay County with 11 points, sharing the game high with Homestead’s Julian Rodocker.
Parker Grimes followed Geesaman with nine points and Gabe Faulkner tallied eight.Jay Houck had been one of the Patriots’ go-to players all night.
He already had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Trailing the defending state champions by two with 17 seconds left in overtime, he was the one Jay County coach Chris Krieg wanted with the ball.
Homestead prevented the junior from getting the ball, so the next best option was senior Kyler Carvel, who had scored 13 of his 17 points during the fourth quarter.
Carvel got the ball deep in the right corner, had it knocked away and junior Jason Schlosser’s desperation potential game-tying shot missed the mark as the Jay County High School boys basketball team fell short Monday against the Homestead Spartans, 53-51.
“Just get it inside,” Carvel, who played his final home game as a Patriot, said of the plan when Krieg called a timeout with 17.2 seconds left in the extra period. “That is where we got all of our points all night. We just couldn’t finish.
“It’s tough. They are a sectional opponent. I thought we played pretty good overall. We had to finish at the end. That is what cost us, I feel like.”
Homestead coach Chris Johnson said he was fortunate to escape with a win even though the Spartans, who finished 15th in the most recent Class 4A Associated Press poll, weren’t able to play to their pace.
“We knew coming in here it was going to be tough,” said Johnson, whose team moves to 15-5 and plays Huntington North in the opening round of the sectional tournament on March 1. “You think that you can speed them up; you can’t speed them up.
“They are well disciplined with the basketball. They made us look like we were in quicksand tonight, which is a little disappointing from that standpoint. Again, anytime you can get a victory out of here, we’ll take it.”
A pair of Carvel free throws gave Jay County (16-6) a 49-47 lead less than a minute into overtime, but a baseline jumper from Brandon Durnell and two bonus free throws from Tahj Curry put the Spartans ahead 51-49 with 2:10 remaining. Carvel, who set a career high in scoring, drove the left baseline for two points to tie the score again at 51.
On the other end of the court Curry, who scored 20 of his game-high 24 points after intermission, drove to the basket and put the Spartans ahead for good.
Krieg called a timeout with 42 seconds remaining to draw up the final play, and the Spartans prevented the Patriots from getting the ball to the right guy, Houck. So Krieg called another timeout with 17 seconds left.
Jay County wasn’t able to find Houck. Carvel, who was at the top of the key, dribbled to the right side of the court, got the ball knocked out of his hands and it bounced to Schlosser for the final shot.
“It got deflected and we just had to throw something up at that point in time,” said Krieg, whose team never trailed by more than four points. “It is what it is. You have to try to do something.
“Am I disappointed in the loss? Yes. Am I feeling really good going into sectional? Yes. We have to play with this mentality.”
Carvel scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter for Jay County, which led 37-32 — the biggest lead for either team — on a 3-pointer from the right wing and a fast break bucket off a rebound from Houck.
But a trio of 3-pointers — two from Curry and one from Durnell — helped the Spartans close the gap and tie the score at 43.
Homestead junior Parker Manges drained a three from the left corner with 2:15 to play in regulation, and after consecutive misses by the Patriots, Curry dribbled the ball near midcourt in front of the scorer’s table for more than a minute as the Patriot defense backed off.
“There is no sense to let them have the last-second shot,” Johnson said. “Once we tied it up we said if they’re not going to come out and guard us let’s go for one.”
With time in regulation running out, Curry drove left and took a long step-back, potential game-winning field goal from the left baseline but it hit the front of the rim.
“They are just solid,” Krieg said. “They move the ball so well. They are very unselfish, but when push comes to shove and they need a basket, man you know who’s got the ball.
“We just didn’t have an answer for him.”

Junior varsity
A slow start proved too costly for Jay County in a 43-26 loss to Homestead.
The Patriots (12-6) were behind 7-2 after the first quarter, and trailed 14-8 at halftime. A 16-point effort in the third quarter gave the Spartans a 30-18 advantage heading into the final period.
JCHS sophomore Max Moser drained two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to finish with a team-high 11 points. Ryan Schlechty followed with seven points and Andrew Trewyn chipped in with three.
Homestead’s Kade Kolpien had a game-high 12 points, all of which came from behind the 3-point line.

Freshman
Jay County’s freshman team fell to 13-5 with a 40-35 defeat to Homestead.
Jay County trailed 15-6 after the opening quarter, but rallied to cut the deficit to two points, 21-19, at half. The Spartans outscored the Patriots 9-7 during the third quarter for a 30-26 advantage after three quarters.
Wyatt Geesaman led Jay County with 11 points, sharing the game high with Homestead’s Julian Rodocker.
Parker Grimes followed Geesaman with nine points and Gabe Faulkner tallied eight.