Jay boys ripped Raiders in ACAC semifinal

The Patriots walloped the Warriors in the opening round of the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament.

Their semifinal opponent didn’t post much of a threat either as the Patriots ripped the Raiders apart to clinch a spot in the final.

Jay County High School’s boys basketball team ran away with a 60-19 victory over the Southern Wells Raiders in the ACAC tournament semifinal on Friday night.

The victory earned the Patriots (9-2) a trip to South Adams today to face the Heritage Patriots, who beat Bluffton 63-50 in the other semifinal, following the conclusion of the girls championship game.

The 41-point victory over Southern Wells (1-9) came three days after the Patriots beat Woodlan by 36. With the championship game looming on Saturday, Jay County could have overlooked the Raiders, but came out prepared to put the game away.

“I’m glad that one’s over, that’s the feeling I’ve got,” said JCHS coach Tyler Rigby. “Honestly, that’s a hard game to play in. I thought we responded really well early and started off where we left with Woodlan. We were mentally locked in and got off to the start that we really wanted.

“Sometimes, if you’re not mentally locked into a game like that, it can go bad pretty quickly.”

Jay County started the game on an 11-0 run that got broken up by Adam Aulbach on an off-balance runner with 3 minutes, 51 seconds remaining in the quarter. SWHS didn’t score again in the period as the Patriots put up 11 more points to lead 22-2 at the quarter break with five players contributing offensively.

The Patriots’ defense continued to bother Southern Wells as the Raiders went 0-3 from the field in the second quarter while turning the ball over 10 times.

While Jay County turned the Raiders over 16 times in the first half (22 in the entire game), it took care of the rock on the other end of the floor. The Patriots didn’t cough the ball up at all in the first quarter. They slipped up some in the second period, but came back out at halftime and only gave the ball away three more times for eight total turnovers.

“We were able to just calm down,” said junior guard Brock Wasson. “Coming into halftime we had (five) turnovers and coach told us not to get to 10. We ended with (eight) so we were able to focus in and do it.”

With a strong lead at the end of the first quarter, Rigby was able to extend his bench. Nick Snow, Samuel Wiggins, Jacob Monroe and Alex Miller got to play throughout the second, third and fourth quarters. They ended with a combined four points, 11 rebounds and one assist.

“Those are big minutes for those guys,” said Rigby. “Not just for them, but for us to see what kind of situations they’re comfortable in. It’s one thing to see it in practice everyday, but it’s another to actually get them out here with the fans and bigger moments and see how they respond. I thought they all did a really good job.”

Jayden Comer led the Patriots in scoring as he dropped 18 points for the second consecutive game. He finished 8-of-13 from the field, while vacuuming in six rebounds and dishing out two assists.

JCHS also got a nice lift from Wasson off the bench. He ended with 11 points, which finished as the second most in the game and tied Jaxcon Casterline of Southern Wells.

Wasson found particular success from beyond the arc, hitting 3-of-4 triples.

“It definitely builds confidence,” Wasson said. “Shooting from the 3-point line was rough last game, so it was nice to come out and knock them down. … I was just going off my teammates screens and using their bodies to get me open.” 

Rigby’s emphasis throughout practice this week has been to focus on what the Patriots do well. While there is still some work to do, he likes the direction his team is heading and will look to claim Jay County its first ACAC title since 2022.

“It’s the same thing tomorrow,” Rigby said. “The opposition might be a little bit more talented, or whatever the case might be, but you still have to do what you do well. The great teams that I’ve been apart of are the ones that make the least amount of mistakes and execute what they’re doing the best.”