Jimtown High School

Jimmies overcome complacency to knock off Lakeland in OT By Red Williams Freelance Sportswriter ELKHART - Complacency isn’t so easy to avoid. Just ask Ryan Varga, head coach of men’s basketball at Jimtown High School. After a brilliant first half and a lead of 29-15 at the intermission, the Jimmies nearly let it get away against visiting Lakeland Saturday night (1.3.26) to start the new year. The Boys of Baugo took an overtime victory over the Lakers, 51-47. A good-sized crowd was on hand. “We did an excellent job in the first half, jumping to the ball defensively and forcing them to take contested shots,” Varga said. That tough defense held Lakeland to a mere four points in the first period and a nine-point lead. But the Lakers clawed back in the second half, taking advantage of Jimtown’s lackadaisical approach. “We got complacent,” Varga said. “Credit goes to Lakeland because they were more aggressive and attacked the ball.” It’s as though the Lakers took a page from Jimtown’s playbook. “We also left a lot of points off the board with missed free throws (just 13-of-24) and being careless with the ball,” Varga added. The Lakers outscored Jimtown, 14-8, in the fourth quarter to force the game into overtime, knotted at 43. “We were able to get some stops in overtime, build a little lead and able to stay ahead,” Varga said. The Jimmies now stand at 6-2 for the season and will be back in action Friday (1.9.26) for an important Indiana Northern State Conference contest at John Glenn (2-9). The Lakers are 5-3. Jimtown’s Dom Fey netted 20 points to lead all scorers, and Will Spurgeon tossed in 16. Fey was three-for-five from the three-point arc. Tre Baldwin grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Jimmies, and Fey had nine. Keegan Merrifield and Levi Cook led Lakeland with 14 and 10, respectively. Score by quarters: Lakeland 4 11 14 14 4 47 Jimtown 13 16 8 8 8 51 Officials: Matt Casey, Ryan Eakins, Zach Sliwa.