Retrospect: Schlosser led upset

Thirty years ago this week, Donnie Schlosser scored 23 points and his Jay County High School boys basketball teammates hit some key free throws late to hold off a comeback attempt for a 67-63 upset of the No. 19 Noblesville Millers.

Jay County trailed only twice in the Jan. 2, 1987, game and built a 13-point lead with 2:23 remaining. Noblesville closed to within two before Bill Dodd was whistled for an intentional foul against Aaron Williams of the Patriots.

Williams hit both free throws and then, thanks to a rule adopted that year, the ball went back to JCHS. Randy Minnich got the ball, was fouled and hit both free throws to extend the lead to six points with just seven seconds left.

The Millers managed one more hoop for the final margin.

Schlosser, whose son Jason is a senior on this year’s Jay County squad, led the Patriots with 23 points and eight rebounds. Minnich and Williams added 17 and 15 points respectively. The trio combined to make 25 of their 29 free-throw attempts, including 19-of-20 in the fourth quarter.

The victory over Noblesville was the first of a stretch of four straight wins for the Patriots, who finished the regular season at 12-8. They went on to defeat Blackford, Wapahani and Delta to win the sectional championship — Schlosser had a key steal with 25 seconds left in the title game and Williams paced the Patriots with 17 points — before falling 78-63 to Carmel in the regional at Anderson.