2025-26 Jay County boys basketball preview

2024-25 season

The Patriots fought through multiple hardships for a 13-10 season. They secured coach Jerry Bomholt’s 600th career victory in the opening round of the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament. Health problems then forced him to retire following a loss at Blackford, which was one of two games for which assistant coach Doug Arbuckle had to step in for Bomholt because of medical emergencies. Brogan Gary was named interim coach and finished the season 5-3. JCHS tied for fourth with Adams Central in the ACAC with a 3-3 record. The Patriots’ season came to an end in the sectional opener at the hands of Yorktown.

Coach Tyler Rigby says

“The first thing that comes to mind is just setting a high standard. I think they’ve seen that this summer with the amount of work that they’ve put in and they haven’t complained about it. So that’s a positive. They’ve worked hard and it’s been a real pleasant surprise because it is a lot of work and it’s really hard, but we’ve got to experience those things together in order to build something. So I think we’re off in a good direction when it comes to that.”

Projected lineup

Benson Barnett – Guard

Jayden Comer – Guard

Gabe Overton – Guard

Jacob Monroe – Forward

Aiden Phillips – Forward

Gradin Swoveland – Forward

Cole Forthofer – Center

Kade Sommers – Center

Top returners

Gradin Swoveland

10.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.6 spg

Cole Forthofer

9.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.5 bpg

Jayden Comer

9.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.2 apg, 2.1 spg

Brock Wasson

4.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 0.7 apg, 0.3 bpg

Key departures

Tucker Griffin

12.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.2 apg, 2.0 spg

Eli Dirksen

3.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.5 spg

Carter Fugiett

0.7 ppg, 0.3 rpg, 0.3 apg

Fast facts

•The Patriots return 69.6% of their points from the 2024-25 season, including three of their four players with more than 100 points.

•This will be Tyler Rigby’s first year at the helm of the Jay County program. He graduated from JCHS in 2006 and served as an assistant at IU East for 11 years.

•Jay County hasn’t won a sectional title since the 2010-11 season. Since then, the Patriots have only reached the sectional championship game twice.

Games to watch

Friday, Dec. 5, vs. Woodlan

Woodlan won the ACAC and is the first conference foe JCHS will see this season. This game also comes one day before going across the border to Fort Recovery.

Friday, Dec. 19, vs. Delta

The Patriots play Delta and Wapahani back-to-back. Both teams from Delaware County have established themselves by making semi-state tournaments in the previous two seasons (three for Delta) .

Friday, Jan. 30, vs. Bluffton

In consecutive days, coach Tyler Rigby gets reunions with his former coach, Craig Teagle, versus Bluffton and teammate, Aaron Daniels, against Blackford.

Fast facts

•The Patriots return 69.6% of their points from the 2024-25 season, including three of their four players with more than 100 points.

•This will be Tyler Rigby’s first year at the helm of the Jay County program. He graduated from JCHS in 2006 and served as an assistant at IU East for 11 years.

•Jay County hasn’t won a sectional title since the 2010-11 season. Since then, the Patriots have only reached the sectional championship game twice.