Third quarter puts JC in final

Night and day.
Tortoise and the Hare.
No matter how you look at it, the Patriots were two different teams from one half to the next.
Jay County High School’s boys basketball team used streaks of seven and 11 consecutive points in the third quarter to pull away from the Bluffton Tigers in a 57-30 thrashing during the Allen County Athletic Conference semifinal Friday.
“We picked up the pressure defensively which allowed us to get more confidence offensively,” said JCHS junior Jay Houck, whose team will play for the ACAC tournament championship for the second time in as many seasons today. It lost to Leo 59-42 last year.
The Patriots meet Adams Central at approximately 7:30 p.m. tonight after Jay County’s girls defend their title at 6 p.m. at the StarDome in Berne.
The difference in Jay County teams from the first half to the second baffled Bluffton coach Kevin Leising.
 “It’s one of those things that you just don’t understand,” said Leising, who was denied his 100th victory with the Tigers. “We came down here and played arguably the best team in the conference (in the preseason) and during the season they have done nothing to change anybody’s mind in my opinion.
“But to come out in the second half and have such a definitive difference between the two halves, it was striking.
Houck, who had a game-high 21 points, finished off the opening half with a finger roll at the buzzer to put the Patriots (7-4) ahead 21-19.
Jason Schlosser tipped in an offensive rebound to start the third quarter, and the next time down the court he drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key on an assist from Cole Stigleman.
Schlosser finished with seven points, all of which came after intermission. Stigleman added a career-high nine points, and Kyler Carvel chipped in with six.
But as much as the Patriots got support from Schlosser, Stigleman and Carvel, Houck did most of his damage in the second half — specifically the third quarter, during which Jay County outscored Bluffton (8-3) by a 22-6 margin.
Houck scored on a baseline drive to start a personal six-point run, including a fast-break bucket and a put-back of his own miss midway through the period. After an old-fashioned three-point play from Carvel, Houck put back another offensive rebound for a basket and a 41-23 JCHS advantage.
“(Houck) is an excellent leaper,” JCHS coach Chris Krieg said. Houck finished with six rebounds, half of which were on offense, and many of his baskets were through traffic. “He is probably one of the better ones we have.”
The 6-foot, 5-inch junior wasn’t done either, adding five points in the fourth quarter before exiting the game with 2:23 remaining.
Senior Adam Dirksen scored 10 points to reach double figures for the 13th consecutive game, and he also added a game-high eight rebounds.
“I was so mad because in the first half we played Houck and Dirksen well,” Leising said. “I thought we guarded them really well and the other guys didn’t hurt us.”
While Jay County was the Hare in the second half, it was the Tortoise in the opening periods.
Bluffton slowed down the pace, attempting to limit offensive possessions for Jay County. The Tigers swung the ball across the court to find an open man, and would often drive to the basket and kick the ball out to the 3-point line. All nine of Bluffton’s points in the opening quarter came from long distance.
“Every shot they made was uncontested. There was not a hand up.” Krieg said. “If we contest better in the first half it is a much different half.”
Bluffton nabbed a 16-13 lead in the second quarter thanks to a basket and a foul shot from Grant Prible — he matched his jersey number to lead the Tigers with 10 points. The senior later drained a 3-pointer from the top of the circle on an assist from Mitchell Kuhlenbeck to give Bluffton its biggest advantage of the game, 19-15.
“I don’t want to say we played bad, we just didn’t communicate well in the first half and we didn’t contest shots like we normally do,” said Krieg.
Jay County closed out the first half on a basket and two free throws from Dirksen and Houck’s finger roll. It gave the Patriots a lead they did not give up the rest of the way.