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Daulton Peters, left, of West Jessamine tries to prevent Boyle County's Micah Miniard from driving to the basket during the fourth quarter of Boyle's 69-55 loss Tuesday. (Mike Marsee / January 30, 2013) |
The Boyle County boys didn’t get what they were looking for Tuesday night, but they’ll get something out of their game against West Jessamine. Steve Adams plans to make sure of it.
The Boyle coach said the game provides an ideal teaching opportunity, as the Rebels can see what worked for them in the first half and what failed in the second half, when West Jessamine rallied for a 69-55 victory at Rebel Arena.
The host Rebels saw an opportunity for a signature win slip away and saw their eight-game winning streak go down the tubes after the Colts raced past them late in the third quarter and early in the fourth.
They led by seven points early in the second half, saw that lead disappear in less than two minutes and found themselves down by 20 points midway through the fourth quarter.
“In the first half and the start of the third quarter, we were doing what we needed to do to get on top. Then we got to doing what we wanted to do in the second half, and it got away and we couldn’t get it back,” Adams said.
Boyle (13-7) fell off the pace when it went scoreless for a span of 4 minutes, 48 seconds, and the Rebels had only one field goal in 8:27 as West Jessamine (14-7) stretched its lead from 40-38 to 61-41.
“We missed a couple of easy shots, and it looked like we lost a little energy and didn’t guard. We gave up more wide-open layups and 15-footers tonight,” Adams said. “We didn’t grind it out. Maybe that wore on them a little bit. Plus, West Jessamine’s pretty good.”
Playing for the fifth time in 10 days, the Rebels weren’t gasping for breath or grabbing their shorts, but Adams said he saw a tired team.
“We’ve come a long way, but we’re still an awful inexperienced team,” Adams said. “Maybe we were a little tired — emotionally tired, not physically tired.”
West Jessamine showed no signs of fatigue in the second half, and coach Damon Kelley said the Colts’ defense allowed them to shift into another gear.
“Our defense stepped up, and we were able to get out and get some easy baskets in transition,” Kelley said.
The Colts forced 20 Boyle turnovers, including 12 in the second half, and scored 27 points off turnovers.
They also got a big game from Chase Fain, who scored 30 points and grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds.
Fain fueled a 13-0 run with one transition basket after another, scoring nine points to push the Colts’ lead to 53-38 with 6:17 remaining. He went 7-for-11 from the field in the second half and was 12-for-22 overall, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range.
“He’s a nice player. You could make an argument for him as the best player in the region,” Adams said. “He’s as nice a player as we’ve gone against all year.”
Hagen Tyler scored 25 points for Boyle, going 14 of 17 at the free-throw line, where the Rebels were 19 ofr 27 and West Jessamine was 4-for-7.
The lead changed hands 11 times in the first half, and Boyle took control by scoring the last seven points of the half — four by Tyler and three by Brett Jones — then got consecutive baskets by Aram Martin and Jones to take a 33-26 lead 1:40 into the third quarter.
West Jessamine answered with nine straight points, taking a 35-33 lead on a 3-point basket by Daulton Peters, who had 18 points and nine rebounds.
Boyle tied the game on a putback by Micah Miniard, who had 11 points and nine rebounds, before a basket by Will Henderson put the Colts in front to stay and a three-point play by Fain gave them a 40-35 lead with 4:00 left in the third period. The Rebels closed to within 40-38 when Miniard hit a hook shot and one of two free throws before West Jessamine began to pull away.
“Boyle’s a nice team, and this is a tough place to play, and I thought our kids responded in the third quarter and went on a nice run,” Kelley said. “It’s never easy to win on the road, and Boyle’s a team that will be there in the region. Hopefully we’ll be in a position to be able to see them again.”
Adams said the Rebels have some work to do before then, but he said there’s still plenty of time to do it.
“This was a good game to challenge us, for finding some of our weaknesses,” he said. “To a certain degree, maybe we were feeling a little good about ourselves. ... Maybe this will wake you back up and make you realize maybe you’re not as good as you thought you were.”
West Jessamine 15 26 49 69
Boyle County 15 29 38 55
WEST JESSAMINE (14-7) — Tanner Richards 5, Robby Irgang 8, Chase Fain 30, Will Henderson 4, Daulton Peters 18, Rashawn Jackson 4.
BOYLE (13-7) — Aram Martin 2, Devin True 2, Micah Miniard 11, Brett Jones 8, Hagen Tyler 25, Zach Leigh 5, Colton Elkins 2.
The Boyle coach said the game provides an ideal teaching opportunity, as the Rebels can see what worked for them in the first half and what failed in the second half, when West Jessamine rallied for a 69-55 victory at Rebel Arena.
The host Rebels saw an opportunity for a signature win slip away and saw their eight-game winning streak go down the tubes after the Colts raced past them late in the third quarter and early in the fourth.
They led by seven points early in the second half, saw that lead disappear in less than two minutes and found themselves down by 20 points midway through the fourth quarter.
“In the first half and the start of the third quarter, we were doing what we needed to do to get on top. Then we got to doing what we wanted to do in the second half, and it got away and we couldn’t get it back,” Adams said.
Boyle (13-7) fell off the pace when it went scoreless for a span of 4 minutes, 48 seconds, and the Rebels had only one field goal in 8:27 as West Jessamine (14-7) stretched its lead from 40-38 to 61-41.
“We missed a couple of easy shots, and it looked like we lost a little energy and didn’t guard. We gave up more wide-open layups and 15-footers tonight,” Adams said. “We didn’t grind it out. Maybe that wore on them a little bit. Plus, West Jessamine’s pretty good.”
Playing for the fifth time in 10 days, the Rebels weren’t gasping for breath or grabbing their shorts, but Adams said he saw a tired team.
“We’ve come a long way, but we’re still an awful inexperienced team,” Adams said. “Maybe we were a little tired — emotionally tired, not physically tired.”
West Jessamine showed no signs of fatigue in the second half, and coach Damon Kelley said the Colts’ defense allowed them to shift into another gear.
“Our defense stepped up, and we were able to get out and get some easy baskets in transition,” Kelley said.
The Colts forced 20 Boyle turnovers, including 12 in the second half, and scored 27 points off turnovers.
They also got a big game from Chase Fain, who scored 30 points and grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds.
Fain fueled a 13-0 run with one transition basket after another, scoring nine points to push the Colts’ lead to 53-38 with 6:17 remaining. He went 7-for-11 from the field in the second half and was 12-for-22 overall, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range.
“He’s a nice player. You could make an argument for him as the best player in the region,” Adams said. “He’s as nice a player as we’ve gone against all year.”
Hagen Tyler scored 25 points for Boyle, going 14 of 17 at the free-throw line, where the Rebels were 19 ofr 27 and West Jessamine was 4-for-7.
The lead changed hands 11 times in the first half, and Boyle took control by scoring the last seven points of the half — four by Tyler and three by Brett Jones — then got consecutive baskets by Aram Martin and Jones to take a 33-26 lead 1:40 into the third quarter.
West Jessamine answered with nine straight points, taking a 35-33 lead on a 3-point basket by Daulton Peters, who had 18 points and nine rebounds.
Boyle tied the game on a putback by Micah Miniard, who had 11 points and nine rebounds, before a basket by Will Henderson put the Colts in front to stay and a three-point play by Fain gave them a 40-35 lead with 4:00 left in the third period. The Rebels closed to within 40-38 when Miniard hit a hook shot and one of two free throws before West Jessamine began to pull away.
“Boyle’s a nice team, and this is a tough place to play, and I thought our kids responded in the third quarter and went on a nice run,” Kelley said. “It’s never easy to win on the road, and Boyle’s a team that will be there in the region. Hopefully we’ll be in a position to be able to see them again.”
Adams said the Rebels have some work to do before then, but he said there’s still plenty of time to do it.
“This was a good game to challenge us, for finding some of our weaknesses,” he said. “To a certain degree, maybe we were feeling a little good about ourselves. ... Maybe this will wake you back up and make you realize maybe you’re not as good as you thought you were.”
West Jessamine 15 26 49 69
Boyle County 15 29 38 55
WEST JESSAMINE (14-7) — Tanner Richards 5, Robby Irgang 8, Chase Fain 30, Will Henderson 4, Daulton Peters 18, Rashawn Jackson 4.
BOYLE (13-7) — Aram Martin 2, Devin True 2, Micah Miniard 11, Brett Jones 8, Hagen Tyler 25, Zach Leigh 5, Colton Elkins 2.
