CLYDE — A rematch of last year’s Class 1A state title game rendered the same result but in much more convincing fashion Thursday, as the defending state champion Jayton Jaybirds hammered Benjamin 63-30 to claim the Region II-1A Division II championship at Bulldog Gym.
Colt Gentry led the way for Jayton, scoring 21 points in the first three quarters before spending most of the fourth as a spectator, while Sean Stanaland and Dayton Bleiker also reached double figures with 11 points apiece.
Using stifling defense and excellent ball movement to consistently generate open looks on the other end, the Jaybirds extended an 18-11 first-quarter lead to 40-16 by halftime and cruised from there to their third consecutive state semifinals appearance and fifth since 2019.
“Coming off winning it last year, there has been some pressure, but I don’t think our kids have felt it at all,” JHS coach Ryan Bleiker said. “It’s just a little bit harder because you have a little bit more of a target on your back, and our kids have handled it great.”
Benjamin, which earned its third consecutive region finals appearance with a wild win over Robert Lee on Tuesday, struggled to find its footing offensively against the top-ranked Jaybirds.
Standout point guard Keegan Hayes, who led the Mustangs with 18 points on six 3-pointers, hit three of those in the opening quarter, but BHS scored just two other points around those in the period.
And Jayton completely locked up the Mustangs over the next two quarters, limiting coach Aaron Kuehler’s team to just two field goals and eight total points in stretching its lead to 50-19 by the start of the final period.
“We want to try to make every shot tough,” Coach Bleiker said. “If they make it, that’s fine. We just don’t want anyone to ever get comfortable shooting the ball. We did have a couple of lapses where I thought we got lost a little bit, staring at the ball. We don’t usually do that. But if we can make every shot difficult and we contest every shot, we feel good about our chances.
“Overall, I was really happy with our defense. Hayes is a great player, and you know that you’re going to give up some things to him. But I love the way our kids came out and played so hard. They pushed the ball and they shot it really well. It was a great start.”
The Jaybirds domination wasn’t limited to the defensive end. They were equally efficient with the basketball in their hands, hitting nine of their 11 total 3-pointers in the opening half to build a 24-point lead by the break.
Bleiker was particularly pleased with the way his team moved the basketball and found the open man.
“We’ve been doing that for about a month now, where we’ve been moving the ball really, really well, and now we’re starting to shoot it,” he said. “We didn’t shoot it great in January, but now we’re really starting to shoot the ball well, and it’s been great to watch.”
Gentry, who put an exclamation point on Jayton’s big first half with a thunderous breakaway dunk late in the second quarter, said his team’s success on the offensive end is a product of excellent preparation.
“We came out really fired up just to get to state for the third year in a row,” he said. “Even though there’s not a state tournament this year, it’s still the state semifinals, so we were really pumped up and we just came out with a lot of energy and I think we played really well.
“We weren’t really sure what defense we were going to see, but they came out in a 2-3 zone and we’ve been playing 2-3 zones I think every single round of the playoffs and most of district, so we’re really experienced against it. We just hopped right into our 2-3 offense and were really efficient with it.”
With Thursday’s win in the books, the Jaybirds can now shift their attention to the state semifinals, where they’ll face off with the winner of Friday’s Region I championship game between Texline (29-6) and Nazareth (23-11).
Regardless of who they end up playing, Bleiker is expecting a challenge.
“That used to be our region, so we’re real familiar with Texline,” he said. “I don’t know how many years we played Texline in a row, but we’re real familiar with them. Nazareth, we haven’t played them quite like we’ve played Texline, but obviously we know who Nazareth is.
“Both of those teams are really good. They’re both really well-coached and have skill all over the place, so that will be an extremely tough game.”
But with one win separating Jayton and another trip to the Alamodome — a venue with which JHS coaches, players and fans have become quite familiar with in recent years — Gentry said the Jaybirds are determined to earn a return trip to San Antonio.
“It never gets old,” he said. “Every year, it gets even better. We’re just adding on to our resumes, and it’s really cool.
“A lot of people don’t ever get to play at the Alamodome, and we’ve played there twice and have a chance to go play there for the third consecutive year, so it’s really special.”
REGION II-1A DIV. II CHAMPIONSHIP
JAYTON 63, BENJAMIN 30
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | ||
| Jayton | 18 | 22 | 10 | 13 | — | 63 |
| Benjamin | 11 | 5 | 3 | 11 | — | 30 |
Jayton (26-2) — Bode Ham 2 2-2 8, Ayden Salazar 1 0-0 2, Sean Stanaland 5 1-2 11, Colt Gentry 9 0-0 21, Griff Reel 0 1-2 1, Tucker Scott 1 0-0 3, Brylen Bezner 0 0-0 0, Lorenzo Robles Vargas 2 0-0 6, Kirby Miller 0 0-0 0, Casey Spray 0 0-0 0, Ethan Pendergast 0 0-0 0, Cooper Spray 0 0-0 0, Ben Baldridge 0 0-0 0, Caleb Herzog 0 0-0 0, Dayton Bleiker 4 0-0 11, Cash Chisum 0 0-0 0, Garrison Allen 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 4-6 63.
Benjamin (15-9) — Everett Cates 2 0-0 4, Keegan Hayes 6 0-3 18, Mauricio Silva 0 0-0 0, Hudson Cates 2 0-0 5, Haralds Sprulds 0 0-0 0, Will Pierce 0 0-0 0, Preston True 0 0-0 0, Kao Pauksuwan 0 0-0 0, Tallon Hayes 0 3-3 3. Totals 10 3-6 30.
3-Point Goals — Jayton 11 (Ham 2, Gentry 3, Scott 1, Vargas 2, Bleiker 3); Benjamin 7 (K.Hayes 6, Cates 1). Fouled Out — None. Technical Fouls — None. Total Fouls — Jayton 12; Benjamin 7.