Last-second shot falls short

The Patriots got the shot they wanted.

But like most of its shots during the previous 31 minutes, 59 seconds, it didn’t fall through the hoop.

Jay Houck leaped into the air to catch a full-court pass from Parker Grimes and had his potential game-winning shot with 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock plunk off the side of the rim as the Jay County High School boys basketball team fell to the Leo Lions on Saturday, 40-39.

Jay County (12-7), which lost back-to-back games after a 49-32 loss to Heritage on Friday, trailed 35-30 entering the fourth quarter and rallied to tie the game at 39 in the final minute.

Leo (11-10) held the ball for the final shot and got fouled with 0.4 seconds left. Ignacio Martinez-Pardo, missed the first but made the second — it was his only point of the game — before the final play for Jay County.

The Lions jumped out to a 14-7 lead after the first quarter thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Lane Reed and five points from Jeremy Davison. Leo, a former Allen County Athletic Conference opponent of the Patriots, took a 20-17 lead into halftime.

Leo’s Will Moreau made five 3-pointers to finish with a game-high 15 points, and Davison followed with a baker’s dozen.

Jay Houck led Jay County with 12 points, half of which came in the final quarter. Jason Schlosser tallied nine points, Cole Stigleman chipped in eight points and Ryan Schlechty scored six.

Wyatt Geesaman and Michael Schlechty recorded two points each.



Junior varsity

Xavier Ninde and Parker Grimes both scored in double figures in leading Jay County to a 52-41 victory over the Lions.

Jay County was ahead 14-7 after the first quarter and took a 19-13 lead into halftime. An 8-4 margin in the third quarter pushed the score to 27-17 in favor of Jay County heading into the fourth period.

Ninde scored 15 points and Grimes added 13 to lead Jay County. Matt Franks chipped in seven points, Gavin Randall scored six while Jordan Stultz and Gabe Faulkner each had four points.



Freshman

Leo broke a close game with a 24-point fourth quarter to run away with a 51-38 victory over Jay County.

Jay County, which trailed 8-3 after one quarter and 18-13 at half, scored 14 points in the third quarter to tie the score at 27 heading into the final period. But Leo’s offense exploded by nearly matching its total from the first three quarters to get the win.

Gabe Link scored a dozen points to lead the Patriots, who got nine points from Payton Nichols, six from Brinnin Wasson and four from Sheldon Upp. Braydon Sprunger chipped in three points, and Brandon Cramer had a pair of free throws.