Total domination

Given how the last couple games had gone, the Patriots needed a strong start.
The Jay County High School boys basketball team was nearly lights out in the first half, cruising to a 75-41 home victory in the opening round of the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament Wednesday.
The Patriots, who were runners-up last year to Leo, made sure they were the team to beat this season.
“I really think the kids wanted to make a statement tonight,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg, whose team hosts Bluffton at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinal round. The Heritage Patriots host the Adams Central Flying Jets in the other semifinal, with the championship game slated for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at South Adams.
Jay County (6-4), which had lost three of its previous four games, had its foot on the gas pedal from the get-go when Jay Houck scored off the opening tip.
Houck and his teammate on the post, senior Adam Dirksen, led all players with 19 points apiece. Houck, a junior, also added six rebounds, two assists and a block, while Dirksen tallied five boards, one assist and a block in the third quarter that rivaled a volleyball spike.
The quick start, Houck said, was what Krieg had been focusing on since Jay County’s loss Saturday in the Kentucky-Indiana Challenge Cup.
“That is what he has been stressing all week, coming out with energy and getting up in them — forcing turnovers and being fundamentally sound while we’re trying to push it,” he said.
In addition to him and Dirksen combining to nearly beat South Adams by themselves, senior Kyler Carvel added a career-high 15 points, three better than his previous high he set Dec. 4 vs. Woodlan.

“It is very important,” Houck said of the three-headed scoring threat. The trio had 31 points together at halftime. Houck hit a fade-away 3-pointer to close out the first half and give the Patriots a 39-19 lead over South Adams (5-6) heading into intermission.
“We try to get everyone involved,” Houck said. “If (Dirksen) is getting doubled down low and we can’t get him the ball I will try to do as much as I can.
“To have Kyler step up like that, that is big to have other players who can score.”
Jay County’s Joey Springer and Jason Schlosser each had six points, and Bowen Runyon followed with five.
It didn’t hurt the Patriots either that they shot 65 percent (15-for-23) in the opening half, and improved in the second. The Patriots were 13-of-19 (68 percent) after intermission and 66.7 percent for the game.
Houck noted the confidence it gives him and his teammates to see shots repeatedly go through the hoop.
“It helps a lot,” he said. Jay County eclipsed the 70-point mark for the second time this season, and reached 75 points for the first time since a 76-23 thumping of Mississinawa on Jan. 4, 2013. “It is something that has hurt us all year. Once we start missing we are timid — we don’t want to take shots.
“But when we hit them right off the bat we have a lot of confidence and it helps us out down the stretch.”
South Adams coach Andy Brown, whose team meets Southern Wells in the consolation round at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Adams Central, was surprised to see so many Jay County shots go in.
“I’ve seen them a few times and I haven’t seen them hit contested shots like that,” said Brown. The Starfires play the Patriots again Jan. 22 in Portland. “They can hit contested shots and they showed that tonight. You hope on a night when you play them and you need things to go your way — especially when you’re already down — you don’t need them hitting shots when you’re right in their face.”
The only glimmer of hope for South Adams was in the early going of the third quarter when an 8-0 run — a jumper off the window from Jared Grabau and back-to-back 3-pointers from Cole Myers and Justin Nussbaum — got the Starfires within 41-27.
It was the closest the visitors got for the rest of the night.
Jared Grabau had a team-high 14 points for South Adams, and Myers added 13. Nussbaum finished with seven points.
Already ahead by 17 nearly a minute into the fourth quarter, the Patriots scored 14 consecutive points, including four straight free throws thanks to an SAHS foul and a technical after the whistle.
Myers hit a mid-range jumper with 2:48 to go to stop the run and make it 70-41, and the Starfires did not score for the rest of the game.