Preview: South Adams Starfires vs. Jay County Patriots
South Adams is 2-8 against Jay County since January of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The South Adams Starfires will head out on the road to challenge the Jay County Patriots at 7:30 p.m. Both teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with nine consecutive losses for South Adams and eight for Jay County.
South Adams suffered their closest loss yet this season on Monday. They fell just short of Lakewood Park Christian by a score of 37-34. South Adams has not had much luck with Lakewood Park Christian recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
Despite the loss, South Adams had strong showings from Tytus Lehman, who scored 16 points, and Owen Wanner, who scored 14 points.
Meanwhile, Jay County pushed their score all the way to 60 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 69-60 hit to the loss column at the hands of Fort Wayne Bishop Luers. While losing is never fun, Jay County can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 297th, while Fort Wayne Bishop Luers is ranked 35th).
Jay County's defeat came about despite a quality game from Liam Garringer, who scored 22 points along with two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Garringer has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Gradin Swoveland, who scored 14 points along with five assists and three steals.
South Adams' loss was their fifth straight at home, which bumped their record down to 1-10. Jay County's record now sits at 2-9.
Friday's match is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: South Adams have been dynamite from deep this season, having only drained 32.5% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Jay County struggles in that department as they've made 37.2% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
South Adams ended up a good deal behind Jay County when the teams last played back in January of 2023, losing 49-34. Can South Adams avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
