FIRST-HALF BLITZ OVER BENJAMIN SENDS JAYTON TO STATE SEMIS FOR 3RD STRAIGHT YEAR
It was the same song, second verse for the Jayton Jaybirds in their 63-30 regional final win over Knox County’s Benjamin Mustangs in a repeat matchup from last year’s state championship game.
Eleven three-pointers spread among five Jaybirds along with two dunks by Colt Gentry, last year’s MVP at the Alamodome, fired up Jayton fans who were no doubt happy not to be on the edge of their seats like they were last March in San Antonio when the two teams met.
The Mustangs gave it the old college try in the first quarter, going on an 8-0 run to close the gap at the 3:04 mark, trailing Jayton 12-11. That margin would be as close as Benjamin could get, unable to match the potent offense the black and gold had on full display.
Junior Bode Ham set the tone early, nailing a trey as the game got underway. Gentry’s first dunk on the next possession came after defensive pressure created the uncontested breakaway run to the rim.
Back-to-back-to-back jumpers by Gentry and junior southpaw Sean Stanaland pushed the Jayton lead to 18-11 as the first quarter ended.
Sophomore guard Dayton Bleiker netted a threepointer to fire up Jayton fans on the first possession of the second quarter. Bleiker added two more treys in the game and finished with 11 points for the Jaybirds.
Jay ton’ s d e f e n s e matched the intensity of what was happening at the other end, holding Benjamin to only five points in the second quarter. At half, Jayton led 40-16, and the remainder of the game saw the Jaybirds continue to focus on defense.
“We want to make every shot difficult,” head coach Ryan Bleiker said. “We just don’t want anybody to ever get comfortable shooting against us.”
That philosophy worked as Benjamin couldn’t get anywhere close to comfortable.
In the third quarter, Jayton held their opponent to only three points, and those came on free throws after a Jaybird foul following Tallon Hayes’s three-point attempt.
The Jaybird defense also shut down Coach Aaron Kuehler’s second leading scorer, Mauricio Silva. Silva, who was held scoreless on the night, had factored big time offensively in the Mustangs’ regional semifinal win over Robert Lee. The lone gap in coverage led to Benjamin sophomore Keegan Hayes’s 18 points, all scored from beyond the three-point line. Nine of those points came in the game’s final few minutes.
Leading Jayton in scoring was Gentry, who finished with 21 points, 18 of those coming in the first half. Stanaland matched Bleiker’s 11 points.
Kent County’s celebrated public school has now earned three straight trips to the state tournament in San Antonio, five appearances since 2019. Though this year’s state semifinal will be played at a different site due to the new basketball small school/large school format, the Jaybirds will have a following no matter where their Final Four game takes place.
“You can see when you come to our games the amount of people who are here to follow us,” Bleiker said. “You can go watch our Little Dribblers on a Saturday, the kids are getting after it, and they look up to these guys. It’s a continuous cycle. This program— it’s something I’m really proud of.”
