Cutting down nets

BERNE — The battle of the Patriots stayed close throughout the first half with both teams knotted at 20 heading to the intermission.

The Patriots from the north scored the first two buckets of the third quarter and held the players from Portland without a bucket for over four minutes.

But Gradin Swoveland wasn’t going to go down easy.

The senior from the Jay County High School boys basketball team stepped up to score all 10 points in the third quarter to lead the Patriots past the Heritage Patriots 50-41 in the Allen County Athletic Conference championship hosted by South Adams on Saturday.

Jay County (10-2) denied Heritage (12-4) its first conference title since 2019, which was the sixth in school history. Jay County claimed its third tournament title and the first since 2022.

“I’m proud of the guys,” said JCHS coach Tyler Rigby, who got to cut down the nets for the first time as a head coach. “They battled, it was a physical game. I told them going into it, it’s going to be a different speed than we played the last couple of games.

“Heritage is really good. They got some really good talent, really good size at the guard spots. … Really well coached. We knew it was going to be a dogfight. We made it a little ugly I guess, but we thrive in ugly right now.”

Heritage struck first in the second half with Lantae Cassel going coast to coast for a layup. Just over two and a half minutes went by before Cassel threw the ball at the rim to go up 24-20.

Heritage’s defense locked Jay County up to begin the half. Through the first four minutes, four Patriots missed shots and they committed three turnovers.

“It was just being in our gaps,” said HHS coach Kyle Sovine. “We were controlling (Jayden) Comer and (Gradin) Swoveland.

“Then offensively, we were finding the gaps and finishing. But overall, I didn’t think we finished very well tonight. If we scored 50% in the paint, it could have been a different outcome.”

The defense finally cracked as Swoveland got aggressive. The senior broke the drought by backing down Lucas Taylor and fading away with 3:31 remaining in the quarter. Thirty seconds later, Swoveland drove on Taylor before spinning baseline to get to the rim to tie the game.

“I just had to start playing aggressive,” Swoveland said. “I was being pretty weak. I was letting them shove me. The shots weren’t falling, so I had to get to the rim and make something happen. Thankfully, I was able to find my gaps and my teammates were able to help.”

Taylor gave the lead back to Heritage with a drive to the tin, but Swoveland came back down the floor, got to the free-throw line and tied the game back up. He scored four more points with an inside-hand layup and a pair of foul shots to give JCHS a 30-26 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

He got going right away in the fourth with a bunny off a baseline-out-of-bounds pass from Gabe Overton to extend the lead to six.

“It’s huge,” Swoveland said. “Basketball is a game of momentum. Whoever has the momentum is going to win the game. We were able to maintain it through and through and we played great in the second half.”

While Swoveland didn’t score again in the game, Jay County found the hoop four more times in the quarter and went 10-for-15 from the charity stripe to close out the game. (Swoveland, Comer and Cole Forthofer all made five or more free throws in the game.)

“That’s really what got us there at the end, them fouling us and hitting free throws,” said Comer, who was named the Hilliard Gates Most Valuable Player for scoring 48 points in the tournament. “It’s great and we’ve got a great team. We’re going to do great things and this is just the beginning.”

Jay County’s size was able to bother Heritage throughout the game. The Patriots missed 24 shots inside the arc while the JCHS forwards scored 18 points. Forthofer finished with 12-point, 12-rebound double-double despite dealing with foul trouble.

While Jay County’s frontcourt struggled with foul trouble – Sommers also had three fouls in the second quarter – Heritage couldn’t keep its guards on the floor. Taylor and Taurean Brown, the point guard, each had three fouls in the first half. Brown also picked up a fourth early in the third period and fouled out with 5:06 remaining in the game.

“It’s tough,” Sovine said. “Yout take Taurean Brown out of the game and it’s going to be hard to win games. I think he’s one of the best players in the conference. He’s our leader, our point guard, sets us up in our offense and on defense.”

Along with cutting down the nets, the Patriots have won their last eight games and will look to continue that momentum when they host South Adams on Jan. 23.

“They’re playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Rigby said. “Which is good, they should be. They’re playing well and they’re doing the things I’ve been asking them to do at the highest effort level and that’s all you can ask for as a coach.

“I think we’re in a good spot. I know we’ve got a lot left in us. We can get a lot better, but I think we’re playing pretty well right now.”