Jay survives solid Bluffton shooting

No matter how much pressure the Patriots applied, the Tigers were still able to get off shots.

In the opening half, they didn’t always fall.

During the final 16 minutes, they didn’t seem to miss.

The Patriots were still able to withstand the storm.

Bluffton came out firing in the second half, especially from long range, but the Jay County High School boys basketball team had enough of a lead and tightened its defense down the stretch for a 49-41 Allen County Athletic Conference victory Friday night against the visiting Tigers.

“I thought our defensive effort was good today,” said JCHS senior Jay Houck, who had a game-high 19 points. “They hit a lot of threes. I thought we contested most of them pretty well. They were just going in.”

Chris Krieg, Jay County’s coach, agreed.

“They shot the ball extremely well to start the second half,” he said. Bluffton (4-10, 2-3 ACAC) was 11-for-20 in the second half after going 4-for-12 before intermission. “Thank God we had a 12-point lead.”

Jay County (10-5, 3-2 ACAC) led 24-12 after the second quarter, but a 17-11 Bluffton edge during the third quarter got the Tigers within two possessions, 35-29. Mitchell Kuhlenbeck hit a 3-pointer from the right wing, and, after a Houck bucket, Rylie Johnston drained his third and final triple as the Tigers trimmed the margin to 35-37.

Krieg called a time out, told the Patriots to keep contesting shots and limiting second-chance opportunities.

Four consecutive points from JCHS senior Jason Schlosser — he was second on the team with 15 points while grabbing three rebounds — put Jay County ahead 41-35 with 3 minutes, 35 seconds to play.

A Johnston layup with less than 90 seconds to play cut the Patriots’ lead to 45-41, but Houck and Schlosser both made a pair of bonus free throws for the final margin.

“They shot the ball really well,” Krieg said. Bluffton was 8-for-15 from behind the 3-point line. Max Corle had a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter, and Evan Baumgartner made both of his long-range shots in the third quarter.

“That is phenomenal,” Krieg added. “Could we have been a little closer? Possibly. But we did a great job on Kuhlenbeck because he’s their main player.”

The Bluffton senior, who entered the game with a 15.4 scoring average, only had three points.

Jay County built its lead during the first half with solid defense, forcing Bluffton into committing 10 turnovers, including nine in the first quarter.

Schlosser opened the game on a fast break after a steal, and Ryan Schlechty followed with another fast break bucket. Four of Schlechty’s six points were in transition after turnovers.

“Fast-break points are the easiest points to get, so we if we can get it and push it we try to,” Houck said. “But we have to be smart and not turn it over because a lot of times we get caught doing that.”

Although Bluffton finished 15-for-32 (46.9 percent) from the field, Krieg was pleased with his team’s effort.

“Defensively I felt like we did a really good job even though they shot a high percentage,” he said. “All we can do is contest and hope for the best.”



Junior varsity

Jay County pushed away a late Bluffton surge to beat the Tigers 51-49.

The Patriots (9-4) held a 13-12 margin after the first quarter. They led 25-20 at half and the margin stayed the same heading to the final period. The Tigers had their best offensive performance in the last seven minutes but the home squad held on for the win.

Parker Grimes had a team-high 19 points for Jay County. The sophomore scored six points in each of the first and third quarters. Jordan Stultz followed with nine points, Korbin Auker chipped in eight points and Xavier Ninde tallied seven points.



Freshman

The Patriots fell behind the Tigers in the second quarter and couldn’t catch up in a 39-31 loss.

Jay County (3-6) was tied with Bluffton 7-7 after the first period before the Tigers had a 15-10 margin in the second quarter to take a 22-17 lead into the break. Bluffton pushed the lead to 31-22 after three quarters.

Gabe Link scored 14 points to lead the Patriots, who got eight points from Brayden Sprunger, Four from Payton Nichols, three points from Gavin Lambert and two from Brian Williams.