Osgood Journal Sports
February 10, 2009

JCD Eagle boys stifle SD Cougar roar, then send Pirates down the plank

Gary Franklin, Sports Writer

Avenging an '08 sectional battle shocker between the JCD Eagle and the SD Cougar boys teams where all calls went wrong for the Eagles, the Eagles eliminated any question as to where the true powerhouse lies with a defiant stifling of the visiting Cougars on Friday, February 6, at JCDHS, with a 72-50 varsity blowout.
Matt Gehl, Arnett's Tim and Trevor, Blake Sutton and Gerald Hardesty along with supporting team members behind Coach David Bradshaw answered the call as they faced their twin weekend basketball battles against the South Decatur Cougars and the Greensburg Pirates.
The varsity games opening action looked to be the close game anticipated by many, as both teams were ranked in the top ten in state class 1A polls, coming into the contest, with JCD at third and SD at 10th, but that would soon be disclosed to be an error in judgment.
The Cougars controlled the opening tip at center court, but let it go out of bounds, turning it over to the Eagles. Senior Eagle Matt Gehl made short work of getting to the basket where he put his team on the score board with a lay up. Cougar Kyle Powers answered with a FG for a tie at two. Again Eagle Gehl scored, and again a Cougar Powers basket tied the game at four.
Senior Eagle Tim Arnett sank his first FG attempt, but Cougar Josh England answered in kind for a six-six tie. An Eagle Gehl FG led to back to back scores by Cougar Andrew Pittman who connected on two of four FT shots to tie the game at eight.
An Eagle Gehl conversion of the old fashioned three point play with a FG and a FT was capped by Cougar Chris Scheidler's tree pointer for yet another tie at 11, leading to the turning point of the game which took approximately 10 seconds..
Jac--Cen-Del scored a three pointer off a deep shot by senior Blake Sutton, for the lead, The Eagles stole the inbound pass under their basket leading to a senior Gehl's adding of a FG and repeated the process the second time with Eagle Sutton the benefactor of the gimme. Up by a seven point margin at 18-11 with 1:22 remaining in the first period, the Cougar coach called for a time-out. In the time remaining, Eagle senior Gehl added a three pointer to which senior Eagle teammate Tim Arnett added a FG, ending the quarter's action with JCD up 23-11 over the SD Cougars.
Second Quarter
Eagle Gehl erupted for the first score in the second quarter, only to have it matched by Cougar Tyler Mote. During the balance of the period, JCD scoring came from Tim Arnett with two FG's and a FT, a pair of FG's by senior Blake Sutton and a pair of FG's including one at the horn by senior Gerald Hardesty. Cougar scoring was from a three pointer by Tyler Mote and the FG/FT combo by Scheidler. The score at the halftime break was JCD 40-19 SD.
Third Quarter
Following a performance at center court during the halftime break by the JCDHS Dance Team, action resumed on the hardwood with Cougar Powers scoring the first basket, quickly capped by Eagle Tim Arnett. Eagle Gehl traded a pair of FG's with a FG and a pair of FT's by Cougar Scheidler.
Eagle Trevor Arnett after missing much playing time due to fouls added a pair of FG's to the JCD effort.. Other Eagle scoring in the period was from a pair of FG's by Sutton along with three converted FT shots, a Spencer Purdy FG and an Ethan Harmeyer FG off the assist by Shane Adams. Cougar scoring included a FG by Mote and a pair of FT's by Scheidler, resulting in a score of JCD 61-29 SD at periods conclusion.
Fourth Quarter
With the Eagle presence on the court largely made up of bench players, Trevor Arnett added a FG and a FT, Derek Lunsford scored a pair of FG's, an Adams FG and a Tim Arnett FG. The Cougar scoring in the fourth was accounted for from England's FG and a FT, a pair of Scheidler treys, three Mote treys, along with a Wilkerson FG and FT.
Game scoring ended with JCD claiming the victory 72-50 over the Cougars.
Jac-Cen-Del Eagles 72
Matt Gehl 22
Blake Sutton 16
Tim Arnett 13
Trevor Arnett 7
Gerald Hardesty 4
Derek Lunsford 4
Shane Adams 2
Spencer Purdy 2
Ethan Harmeyer 2
Non-scoring Eagles: Craig Houk, Brandon Wilhoit and Daniel Harlemert.
South Decatur Cougars 50
Chris Scheidler 20
Tyler Mote 16
Kyle Powers 6
Taylor Wilkerson 3
Josh England 3
Andrew Pittman 2
*JCD JV 35-24 SD Cougars
Eagles vs Pirates
The Eagle vs Pirate Saturday, February 7, game played at JCDHS resulted in another victory under the belt for Jac-Cen-Del's varsity boys basketball team.
Varsity Quarter Scores
JCD 19-18 Greensburg
JCD 40-33 Greensburg
Greensburg 54-51 JCD
JCD 74--71 Greensburg
Jac-Cen-Del Eagles 74
Matt Gehl 33
Tim Arnett 19
Gerald Hardesty 9
Shane Adams 5
Blake Sutton 3
Trevor Arnett 3
Non-scoring Eagles: Craig Houk, Spencer Purdy, Derek Lunsford, Brandon Wilhoit and Daniel Harlemert.
Greensburg Pirates 71
Wright 19
G. Dougan 18
Burgham 12
Hatter 10
Miller 6
Wilson 6
Non-scoring Pirates: A. Dougan, Evans, Lawrence, Ile, Schneider, Glasser and Barker.
*JCD's JV also captured a win over the Pirate JV. The final score was 39-26.