One game, one win

PONETO — The Patriots recently got some new leadership.

That new leadership has brought some twists in philosophy and those new wrinkles were on display as the Patriots beat up on the Raiders.

Brogan Gary secured his first win as the Jay County High School boys basketball interim coach as it clobbered the Southern Wells Raiders 77-25 on Thursday.

Gary, who was previously Jay County’s junior varsity coach, stepped in as the Patriots’ interim coach after Jerry Bomholt retired on Tuesday to focus on his health. He had not previously held a head coaching position before coming to Jay County, and picked up his first career victory in his initial attempt.

“I feel great,” Gary said. “Our motto is to keep improving and keep building. It doesn’t matter the competition, because we can get better each possession. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. Especially for our end goal and having the outlook of where we’re trying to get.”

The Patriots (9-7, 3-2 Allen County Athletic Conference) debuted a pair of new defensive sets alongside their new coach. Through a majority of the first half, they ran a 1-2-2 full-court press that slipped into Bomholt’s Zorro defense. That press contributed to Southern Wells (0-14, 0-5 ACAC) turning the ball over 12 times before the end of the second quarter.

After the intermission, Jay County matched up with the Raiders in a man-to-man defense. The Patriots held SWHS to just 10 points in the second half – six in the third and four in the fifth – which is 10 under the Raiders' season average per quarter.

While the new defensive sets won’t necessarily replace the 3-2 zone, Gary was happy with how his team responded to implementing the different looks.

“They had a good attitude about it,” Gary said. “I’m trying to gauge, as a coach, what we’re capable of and give ourselves different options. The game has its ups and downs, so we’ve got to be able to adjust, which is crucial for a team and for us going forward.”

Nearly everything worked for Jay County on the offensive end of the floor. The team shot effectively from outside (7-of-18), scored 40 points in the paint, hit eight buckets off of offensive rebounds and put up 17 points off of turnovers.

A key reason for the offensive success came from the Patriots assisting 19 of their 32 made field goals (59.4%).

Tucker Griffin led the team with seven assists. Six of those assists came as the in transition or Griffin driving the ball and either looking for forwards Cole Forthofer and Eli Petro – who led the scoring with 18 and 14 points respectively – or to kick the ball out to Jayden Comer – who finished with 12 on 4-of-7 from deep.

“It’s simple basketball,” Griffin said. “Everyone wants to score, and I’ll be the first one to tell you, ‘I love scoring too.’ But at the same time, I’d rather see Cole dunk on somebody or Jayden hit a three, because I know we all feed off the energy more than me scoring. So passing and getting people open is really what I like to do.”

Griffin added 10 points to his assist numbers, with all but one basket – a floater late in the second quarter – came in transition.

Six other Patriots dished out assists in the game, including Brock Wasson who had four.

The sophomore hadn’t seen any time outside of the fourth quarter prior to Thursday, but checked into the game as early as the 5:30 mark in the second period. He made an immediate impact, hitting a triple from the right corner and assisting a trio of buckets in that second quarter.

Along with Wasson, Jay County was able to extend its bench more than usual due to the score of the game. Benson Barnett made an appearance in the third quarter, grabbing a pair of offensive rebounds – and later hitting a 3-pointer in the fourth. Kade Sommers, Brady Jetmore, Drew Schemenaur and Rylee Sollars all got checked in during the final period as well.

“It was exciting, now the pressure should be able to go away and just go out and play,” Wasson said. “It’s nice getting to go from playing on JV together to playing on varsity. The next few years we’ll be playing together, so it’s a good way to get the reps.”

C.J. Reber led Southern Wells with seven points while shooting 3-of-12 (25%) from the floor. He had five of the team’s 10 second-quarter points, which was the highest mark SWHS hit in one period. (Ten points was the lowest mark the Patriots put up.)

Gary will now get a week off to work with his team in practice before they host back-to-back home games against conference and sectional foes in Heritage and Yorktown. He also recognized the new motive the team will have to push forward through the rest of the season.

“This is for coach,” Gary said. “We know he wants to be here. We were playing for him, for each other and just being together. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’ll keep improving off of him.”

Junior varsity

The Jay County JV basketball team blasted the Raiders in a 58-15 victory on Thursday.

Three Patriots scored in double figures as the team got 15 or more points in the first three quarters. Nick Snow led the way with 21 points, followed by Wasson with 15. Barnett was the other Patriot to eclipse double figures with 10.

Adam Aulbach led Southern Wells with eight points, including all six second-quarter points.

JCHS never gave up more than six in a quarter and held the Raiders scoreless in the third.