Jimtown High School

Varsity vs Concord High School (45 - 60) Loss Rival Concord gets the best of Jimmies By Red Williams Freelance Sportswriter ELKHART – Bitter cold proved to be a nemesis both inside and out Tuesday night (1.21.25) in high school men’s basketball. While the outdoor thermometer read negative-2, the shooting percentage for Jimtown’s Jimmies also was dismal (27.8 percent) as visiting Concord conquered them, 60-45, before a good-sized crowd. Jimtown managed just 24 points in the first three quarters against the Minutemen’s swarming defense, and nearly matched that in a fourth-period rally (21 points). “A lot of it had to do with their experience and strength,” said Jimmy Coach Tyler Leighton. “Derrick (DeShone) does a good job preparing, and their point guard (Reese Brevard) handled our press well. They were tough and physical.” DeShone said, “It’s always tough to play here. We regrouped at the half and did a better job down the stretch.” Concord improves its record to 9-4, while the Jimmies dip to 7-6. It doesn’t get any easier down the road: Jimtown travels to South Bend Washington, No. 11 in Class 3A Saturday night, and the Minutemen visit Warsaw on Friday. After a sleepy-time first half (with Concord on top 19-17), the Jimmies had trouble finding the mark in the third quarter, nailing only seven points, while the Minutemen picked up the momentum and doubled that score to take a commanding 34-24 advantage heading into the final stanza. But the Jimmies increased the tempo and put together a 16-4 rally from the 6:40 mark to 3:17 to cut Concord’s lead to seven points, 47-40. “I thought we put forth a good defensive effort, flying to the ball,” Leighton said. “Our total game is not there yet.” Forced to foul, Jimtown saw the Minutemen nail nine of 12 at the free-throw line to make it 56-43. Will Spurgeon led the Jimmies with a game-high 17 points, and Branden King tossed in 14. “King presents a lot of problems,” DeShone said. “Our goal was to hold him to 15. Guess I’m buying the pizza.” The Minutemen’s shooting wasn’t much better (34.5), but had good balance in the scoring column: Lucas Prough topped them with 15, Cam Bonds pitched in 13 and Brevard and Bo Brunner each chipped in with 11. Concord won the rebounding battle by a small margin, 42-37. BTW, it appeared that Prough injured his right leg when he fell to the floor midway through the fourth period. Jimmy sharp-shooter Dylan Fey continues to nurse an Achilles injury, watching from the bench. “He’s week-to-week,” Leighton said. Score by quarters: Concord 6 13 15 26 = 60 Jimtown 8 9 7 21 = 45 JV score: Concord 42, Jimtown 21 Officials: Mark McCammon (South Bend), Jack Rupley (North Manchester), Steve Godfroy (Huntington)