Osgood Journal Sports
March 13, 2007

Jac-Cen-Del Eagles' 2007 basketball season continuance denied

Gary Franklin - Sports Editor


The Jac-Cen-Del boys' basketball team players should find nothing to hang their heads over as they were denied the right to continue play beyond the 2007 Class 1A Regional #15, held at Franklin Community High School last Saturday, March 10.
All in attendance could well attest to the abilities and capabilities the Eagles displayed while in action on the court during both their afternoon and evening games, even amid less than favorable circumstances.
The early contest to start the day's activities, slated the (21-3) Lanesville Eagles against the (20-3) Orleans Bulldogs. A nail biter finish appearing to be destined for an overtime ended in a lay up by 6'3" Lanesville Eagle senior forward David Lieber. Lieber would also figure negatively in the JCD vs Lanesville finish to the championship contest Saturday night with the sinking of 2 free throws to put them up 56-54 with 13 seconds left in regulation.
JCD vs MORRISTOWN
JCD captured the opening center court tip, however the Yellow Jackets stung first with a FG by junior Pete Schmith. Eagle junior Brandon Gehl answered with a heavily defended FG to tie the game at 2. Yellow Jacket senior Elliot Shannon put his team in the lead with a FG. Senior teammate Russ Kuhn made it a 4 point lead with a FG for 6-2. Eagle senior Justin Huff pulled the plug on one of his infamous 3's for a 1 point deficit at 6-5. Eagle sophomore sent the Eagles to their first lead of the game with a FG for 7-6, near the 4 minute mark of the first quarter.
M'town senior Kreigh Carlton recaptured the lead with a FG. Eagle Huff solidified the lead with the draining of his second 3. M'town's Shannon knotted the game at 10 with a FG. Eagle Brandon Gehl connected for a FG and the lead. Jacket Shannon reknotted the game at 12 with his second FG, but Brandon Gehl buried his third FG of the quarter to end the first quarter JCD 14-12 Jackets.
The Eagles opened the second quarter with 5 unanswered points off a Huff 3 and a FG by Matt Gehl to go up 7 at 19-12. Jacket Schmith made 1 of 2 FT shots. Eagle senior Daniel Leonetti made a FG but missed the opportunity to turn it into a old time 3 point play as he missed the ensuing FT. Jacket senior Chris McMichael bagged a pair of freebies to cut into the Eagle lead.
During the final two minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Jackets cut the Eagle lead to 4 points at 33-29. Senior Eagle Andrew Wagner netted a FG, but the Jackets put in 3 back to back to back. Scoring a FG each for M'town were Kuhn, Schmith and Shannon. The last Eagle score before the half time break came from Eagle senior Tucker Brown's delivery of a FG. The quarter ended with a FG by Shannon of the Jackets.
In the third quarter, the Eagles worked to an 8 point lead, 51-43. JCD scoring was the result of a FG and a FT by Brown. Brandon Gehl tallied 3 FG's and a FT. Sophomore Blake Sutton added a pair of FG's and Matt Gehl sank a FG and 1 of 2 FT attempts.
Jacket scoring in the third came from 4 FG's by Shannon, a FG each by Carlton and Schmith, and a pair of FT's made by Kuhn.
The fourth quarter of play resulted in a 19 point run by the Jackets. Carlton scored a 3 and a pair of FG's. Shannon added 3 FG's. M'town senior Josh Everhart netted a pair of FG's and Schmith wound up their scoring with a solo FG.
The Eagles were contained to a 17 point fourth quarter output. Scoring in the fourth were 3 FG's and a FT from Brandon Gehl. Two FG's were scored by Sutton, and a FG and FT were each added by Brown and Matt Gehl. A steal and FG as the game clock was expiring by Sutton solidified any question about the outcome possibilities.
The final score netted a 6 point JCD win of 68-62.
Scoring
Jac-Cen-Del Eagles - 68
Brandon Gehl 15
Justin Huff 15
Matt Gehl 12
Tucker Brown 10
Blake Sutton 6
Daniel Leonetti 6
Thomas Wenning 2
Andrew Wagner 2
Non-scoring Eagles were: Gerald Hardesty, Eric Horan, Coty Horn and Tim Arnett.
M'town Yellow Jackets - 62
Elliot Shannon 24
Russ Kuhn 13
Pete Schmith 13
Kreigh Carlton 6
Josh Everhart 4
Chris McMichael 2
Non-scoring Jackets were: Shane Stout, Cody Riley, Chris Haygood, Brian Jarvis, Josh Albrecht and Doug Cox.
The Eagle championship
Jac-Cen-Del vs Lanesville
A seemingly very long wait between games finally resulted in the championship game's start at 8 PM. Lanesville opened in a flurry for 6 straight points, resulting in an Eagle Coach Bradshaw timeout. The Lanesville Eagles continued to add another FG for 8-0 before the JCD Eagles could respond with a basket. That basket came from Matt Gehl at the 5 minute mark in the first quarter of play.
Lanesville scored another FG and Leonetti answered but missed an opportunity to add the FT shot. Eagle senior Thomas made a strong move to the basket to complete a FG, cutting the deficit to 4 at 10-6. Lanesville was able to add one more FG before the end of the quarter, but the Eagles of JCD through a 3 by Sutton and a pair of FT makes by Wenning cut their deficit to 1 at 12-11 by quarter's end.
JCD's Brandon Gehl's scoring of a FG and teammate Sutton's steal and drive to the rack put them up for the first time of the contest, 15-12. Lanesville and Huff traded FG's for 17-14. Lanesville's FG closed the game to 1 point, but a foul called as Huff released a 3 attempt put him on the FT line where he sank all 3 to go up by 4 points.
With a little over 4 minutes remaining in the half, Lanesville scored back to back FG's to tie the game at 20. An Eagle lead off a Wenning FG was capped by Lanesville for the 22-22 tie. Eagle Brown scored a FG, but Lanesville again merited the tie at 24 with a FG. Eagle Sutton rose to drill the long range 3 at the 2:30 mark, after which neither team was able to put points on the scoreboard before the halftime break, JCD 27-24 Lanesville.
Opening the third, Brown missed a pair of FT's, Lanesville made 1 of 2, and Matt Gehl drained the 3 ball which led to a FG by Wenning to go back in front by 7 at 32-25 with 4:30 left to play. Lanesville called for the timeout.
Lanesville stole the ball and scored a pair of FG's. Eagle Matt Gehl netted another 3 bomb and brother Brandon sank 1 of 2 FT's. JCD 36-29. Eagle Brown made 1 of 2 FT shots and Sutton nailed a pair, taking their lead to 10 at 39-29 with 1:45 remaining in the third.
Lanesville's Chris VanHoose scored a FG, missed the FT, added another FG, and stole the ball to add yet another FG over about a 30 second period, drawing them back to within 4 at 39-35. The Eagles had not fallen asleep nor left the floor, merely the lack of fouls often called not being called.
JCD's timeout at the 42 second mark led to a pair of Eagle scores. One, a FG by Brandon Gehl, and the other by Brown, however VanHoose ended the quarter with a lofty 3 at the horn for a score of JCD 43-38 Lanesville.
Eagle Brown connected for back to back FG's to regain a 9 point margin within the first 30 seconds of fourth quarter play.
Lanesville scored a FG to which Brown again countered. Lanesville cut the deficit to 7 with a pair of FT shots. Brandon Gehl missed the front end of a 1+1 opportunity at the line but nailed a FG at 4:20 to regain a 9 point margin at 51-42.
Lanesville's VanHoose again rose for the 3 ball, calling the timeout following the make. Questionable non calls resulted in a pair of Lanesville baskets, cutting the game to a 51-49 game with 3:36 to go.
That led to a blocked shot that sent Eagle Sutton to the floor hard resulting in major muscle spasms in his legs. A mere 2 point lead and a key to the Eagle lineup unlikely to be able to return to the game in the time remaining.
At 2:53 with Sutton out of the Eagles' defensive set, Lanesville's VanHoose launched his 3rd 3 pointer to take the lead 52-51. Eagle Huff nailed a 3 to retake the lead for Jac-Cen-Del 54-52 at the 2:36 mark. Lanesville junior, Kenton Acton scored a FG to knot the game at 54 with 2:20 to go. Lanesville called timeout at 1:52 in possession of the basketball. Lanesville sat on the ball, running time off the clock. An over and back infraction was ignored allowing them to maintain possession until a reach-in foul was called on JCD at the 19.8 second mark.
None other than Lanesville senior David Lieber went to the foul line and nailed the pair to give them a 56-54 lead. With 13 seconds remaining on the clock, the Eagles inbounded following a timeout. Senior Huff shot from the top of the foul circle where the ball rimmed out. One last attempt at a throw back found no net and the Lanesville Eagles were given the pass to Semi State competition.
Scoring
Jac-Cen-Del Eagles - 54
Blake Sutton 12
Tucker Brown 11
Thomas Wenning 8
Justin Huff 8
Matt Gehl 8
Brandon Gehl 7
Non-scoring Eagles were: Daniel Leonetti, Andrew Wagner, Gerald Hardesty, Eric Horan, Coty Horn and Tim Arnett.
Lanesville Eagles - 56
Chris VanHoose 23
Taylor Hess 9
Kenton Acton 8
David Lieber 8
Tom Richmer 4
Matthew Beckman 2
John Kissel 2
Non-scoring Eagles were: Jordan Hall, Seth Jacobs, Jeffery Hammond, Cody Hussung and Evan Hussung.

GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO Gehl brothers talk it over before their next defensive set. Brandon (34) is an Eagle junior and Matt (30 is a sophomore. The duo are a viable threat on either end of the court.

GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO Blake Sutton, lying on the sideline floor, is attended to by concerned teammate Gerald Hardesty (right) trying to support his head off the floor, EMT personnel at the Franklin Community High School Regional #15 site (front) and Michelle Sebastian, (left) Jac-Cen-Del's Athletic Trainer. Intense leg cramps forced Sutton's removal from the game in the fourth quarter.