February 8, 2008 – PLEASANT HILL
The Franklin Monroe Jets took care of business to earn their 10th conference win by beating the Newton Indians 53-47. Offensively Ethan Nealeigh led the Jets with 17 points but more important on the defensive side of the court he was instrumental in holding the league’s leading scorer, Jason Powell to 5 points below his average (19.4 PPG). With an Arcanum loss to Ansonia, the win gave the Jets sole possession of 2nd place in the conference race behind league winner, Twin Valley South Panthers.

FM came out strong to take a 10 – 0 run to start the game and were able to hold off a few runs by the Indians to maintain a 10 point margin throughout the contest.

FM Coach Dane French noted that he didn’t think his team played their best basketball but a win is a win.

“Anytime you get a road win in the CCC you’ll take it” noted French. “We finished off the conference with 2 losses and we’re pretty pleased with that.”

With the knowledge that TVS shored up the conference title, talk of the tournament came up quickly since FM will face Newton again in the first round of the sectional at Vandalia Butler on Feb 16th at 5 PM.

“We’ll have to play better the next time we play them” continue French. “They will ready for us when we meet in Vandalia and it will be just a tough as tonight, so we will have to play better.”

The Jets were able to control the senior Indian duo of Powell and Kale Booher. Nealeigh and the rest of the Jets did a great job Powell to limit him to his 3rd lowest point total for a game all season.

FM limited Powell to one 3 point goal which has been a rarity this season. By the middle of the 3rd quarter Newton set Powell up on the high post just to get him the basketball.

“Ethan scored 17 points and worked his tail off on Jason Powell” commented French on his senior guard. “Powell is a great player.” “Ethan had a super game on both ends of the floor for us tonight.”

Kale Booher led the Indians with 17 points and helped pick up the 3’ deficit for Newton. Booher canned 4 treys on the night, each getting Newton within fighting distance but the closest Newton came in the second half to the Jet lead was 6 points.

Newton Coach Neal Hans noted that FM’s quickness was a concern and started the game out in a zone defense. “I thought we could play them in a zone, but we didn’t get out and cover very well (outside shot) and we got off to a slow start.”

Hans noted that since the fourth game that every team has had somebody playing tight defense on Powell, but in most cases he has been able to break away and get his points. The combination of the FM defense and an off night from the field from Powell didn’t help the odds of Newton pulling the upset on their home floor.

Hans noted that Booher had a night beyond his usual scoring game and noted that “Kale had a great game tonight.” What has hurt Newton this season has been the lack of balanced scoring. “For us to be successful we need more scoring from our inside people. We missed a lot of close shots tonight.”

Newton finishes the regular season with a record of 3-9 in conference play and 4-16 overall.

Some history on the FM Jets: The 10 wins this season gave the Jets their most conference wins since 1999 where they also finished second behind National Trail. The Jets have the highest winning percentage of conference games of any of the original members of the CCC and have been a consistent contender year in and year out. Unfortunately, they also have been a bridesmaid more times than any other team in the conference with this year making the 8th time in the 29 years of the CCC that the Jets have finished 2nd. They have won or shared a conference title 4 times with the last title a four way co-championship in 2003 with TVS, Tri-Village and National Trail.

The Jets are 12-7 on the year and will finish out the season at home against Milton Union. “I’ve watched them twice and they are nice basketball team” noted French. “They are 10-9 and I don’t know how. They are a heck of a good basketball team. It’s going to be a good battle and a good pre-tournament warm up for us.

Scoring by quarters
FM……..15…25…41…53
Newton….8…16…28…47

FM
Lucas – 9
Kauffman – 10
French – 7
Nealeigh – 17
Pressley – 6
Glascoe – 4

Newton
Booher – 17
Powel – 14
Lavey – 7
Hahn – 4
King – 3
Payne – 2

3 Point Goals
FM – 5 (Nealeigh 2, Lucas 2, Glascoe)
Newton – 5 (Booher 4, Powell)