Keen earns medal

You've known me as a police officer, police chief
and street/park superintendent. You know of my
accomplishments and what I have achieved during
my 32 years as a public servant working for you.
I am Jeff Harker and I want to be your next mayor of
the City of Portland.
My experience and knowledge as a department head
has given me the opportunity to know managers and
project supervisors from federal and state agencies,
most on a first name basis. I have worked with
several engineering firms on projects and I was the
LPA (Local Public Agency) responsible for signing
all grants and making sure quarterly reports were
accurate.
The difference between a politician and public
servant is a politician can tell all kinds of stories
and a public servant can't, you can't get away with
it. Stories are already circulating I am only running
for mayor because I was replaced as the street/
Park Superintendent. Fact is I have thought about
becoming mayor as far back as 2007.
My integrity has never faulted and has guided me
in what I do every day as it has in the past. With all
my experiences I will work with you to make the
mayor's office a place to be proud of. I will not make
any political promises except to be honest, use my
experiences to better the City of Portland and give
you the very best of what I can bring to the office as
your Mayor.
Thank you, Jeffry L. Harker
• Experienced• Experienced
• Knowledgeable• Knowledgeable
• Honest• Honest
• Integrity• Integrity
Pd Pol. Adv
HARKER FOR MAYORHARKER FOR MAYOR
www.thecr.com The Commercial ReviewPage 10
Sports
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Fort Recovery boys
fall to the Flyers,
see story page 9
Purdue will visit
Buckeyes on Sunday,
see Sports on tap
By CHRIS SCHANZ
The Commercial Review
INDIANAPOLIS —
James Keen finished
runner-up in the second
heat of the 100-yard
backstroke Friday of the
IHSAA Boys Swimming
and Diving preliminar-
ies at Indiana University
Natatorium.
Then he had to wait to
see if his time of 51.37
seconds would earn him
a spot in the champi-
onship heat today.
Wilson Beckman and
Evan Shive turned in
faster times during the
third heat.
He anxiously stood
behind the blocks next to
Sok Vormohr, coach
Barry Weaver and 2014
JCHS graduate Evan
Mathias during the
fourth heat.
The times flashed on
the scoreboard.
The heat winner, Joe
Young? Faster than
Keen. The runner-up,
Nathaniel Bledsoe? Also
faster. Alex King, who
finished behind Young
and Bledsoe? Again,
faster.
Timothy Schoof, the
junior from Michigan
City who was behind the
aforementioned trio?
Slower.
Keen threw up his
arms. Mathias and Vor-
mohr did too.
Keen would be a state
medalist.
The Jay County High
School senior’s time
earned him the seventh
seed in the champi-
onship heat today, guar-
anteeing that he ends his
Patriot swimming career
with a medal. The state
finals resume at 1 p.m.
today.
Vormohr, who compet-
ed in the 100 freestyle,
placed 30th in the state
with his time of 50.02
seconds.
“It feels amazing,”
Keen said, unable to
shake the smile off his
face. “I can’t even put
into words right now. I’m
flabbergasted. I don’t
even know what to say.
“Hard work pays off in
the end. Fourteen years
I’ve been working at
this.”
Friday evening, his
dream came to fruition.
After the first 50 yards,
Keen led Zionsville soph-
omore Tyler Harmon by
0.53 seconds. But as he
began the second half of
the race, Keen was swim-
ming at the lane line,
even hitting it on occa-
sion.
When he emerged
from the water after
making the final turn,
Keen was still swimming
near the lane line and
Harmon had overtaken
him. In the final 10
yards, Keen surged,
arching his back as he
touched the wall in 51.37
seconds, 0.42 seconds
behind Harmon.
He looked at the score-
board and pumped his
right fist, pleased with
his time.
Then he had to wait.
Keen knows he wasn’t
at his best, but it was
good enough to secure a
medal.
“The whole race
wasn’t good,” said Keen,
who finished 17th as a
junior missing out on
the consolation finals.
See EEaarrnnss page 9
Keen earns medal
By RAY COONEY
A tap of the snooze but-
ton typically results in a
nine-minute reprieve from
the alarm clock.
The Bellmont offense
took even longer to wake
from its offensive slumber
against the Patriots.
Jay County High
School’s boys basketball
team held the visiting
Braves scoreless for more
than 12 minutes, including
the entire second quarter,
as it closed the regular
season with a 53-28 victory
Friday over the visiting
Braves.
The Patriots (17-6)
outscored Bellmont 17-0 in
the second quarter and
never trailed. Coach Craig
Teagle was able to take his
three seniors — Zach
Pryor, Justin Dirksen and
Nick Clemens — out to an
ovation with a 28-point
lead with 4:02 remaining.
“We were sitting on the
bench talking about how
this is the last time we’re
going to play here,” said
Dirksen. “It’s crazy.”
Dirksen totaled a team-
high 11 points as Jay
County had six players fin-
ish with at least six points.
His effort included a 3-
pointer from the left wing
at the halftime buzzer
after Pryor tossed an
inbound pass with just 0.9
seconds left on the clock.
Pryor joined his class-
mate in double figures
with 10 points, six of
which came in the open-
ing period.
See QQuuiieettss page 9
JCHS
quiets
Braves’
offense
The Commercial Review/Chris Schanz
Jay County High School senior James Keen, front, trails Zionsville’s Tyler Harmon in the
final 10 yards of the 100-yard backstroke during the IHSAA Boys Swimming and Diving State Finals
preliminaries Friday at Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis. Keen finished with a time of
51.37 seconds, and will be seeded seventh when the championships resume at 1 pm. today.
Jay senior
seeded 7th
for today’s
finals race

Scoreboard
NNBBAA BBaasskkeettbbaallll
Indiana 93, Cleveland 86
Standings
NNAASSCCAARR SSpprriinntt CCuupp
1. Joey Logano, 47.
2. Kevin Harvick, 42.
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 42.
4. Denny Hamlin, 41.
5. Jimmie Johnson, 40.
6. Casey Mears, 39.
7. Clint Bowyer, 37.
8. Martin Truex Jr., 37.
9. Kasey Kahne, 35.
10. Greg Biffle, 35.
11. David Gilliland, 33.
12. Sam Hornish Jr., 32.
13. Michael Annett, 32.
14. Austin Dillon, 30.
15. Aric Almirola, 29.
16. David Ragan, 27.
17. AJ Allmendinger, 25.
18. Danica Patrick, 23.
19. Cole Whitt, 22.
20. Carl Edwards, 22.
Local schedule
TTooddaayy
Fort Recovery — Girls basketball sec-
tional final vs. Ada at Coldwater – 8 p.m.
South Adams — SAMS wrestling at
West Noble – 9 a.m.
MMoonnddaayy
Jay County — Middle school swimming
vs. Northside – 5:30 p.m.
South Adams — SAMS wrestling at
Adams Central – 5:30 p.m.; SAMS swim-
ming vs. Bluffton – 5:30 p.m.
WWeeddnneessddaayy
Fort Recovery — Boys basketball sec-
tional semifinal vs. New Bremen at Cold-
water – 8 p.m.
South Adams — Boys basketball sec-
tional opener vs. Eastside at Woodlan – 6
p.m.
TV schedule
TTooddaayy
Noon — Men’s College Basketball:
Georgetown at St. John’s (CBS-
4,7,15)
12:30 p.m. — English Premier
League Soccer (NBC-2,13,33)
2 p.m. — Men’s College Basketball:
North Carolina at Miami (CBS-4,7,15);
Villanova at Xavier (FOX-45,55,59)
3 p.m. — PGA Tour Golf: Honda Clas-
sic – Third round (NBC-2,13,33)
4 p.m. — Men’s College Hockey: Wis-
consin at Michigan (BTN)
4 p.m. — NBA Basketball: Arkansas
at Kentucky (CBS-4,7,15)
Iowa at Penn State (ESPN-U)
Northwestern at Illinois (BTN)
8 p.m. — NHL Hockey: New York
Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers (NBC-
2,13,33)
Midnight — Men’s College Basket-
ball: UC Irvine at UC Santa Barbara
(ESPN)
SSuunnddaayy
12:30 p.m. — NASCAR Racing:
Sprint Cup – Folds of Honor Quicktrip
500 (FOX-45,55,59)
1 p.m. — NBA Basketball: Los Ange-
les Clippers at Chicago Bulls (ABC-6,21)
1 p.m. — Women’s College Basket-
ball: Texas at West Virginia (ESPN2)
Southern Methodist at UConn (CBS-
4,7,15)
3 p.m. — PGA Tour Golf: Honda Clas-
sic – Final round (NBC_2,13,33)
ball: North Carolina at Duke (ESPN2)
3:30 p.m. — NBA Basketball: Cleve-
land Cavaliers at Houston Rockets
(ABC_6,21)
Michigan State at Wisconsin (CBS-
4,7,15)
ball: South Carolina at Kentucky
(ESPN2)
6:30 p.m. — NBA Basketball: Okla-
homa City Thunder at Los Angeles Lak-
ers (ESPN)
7:30 p.m. — Men’s College Basket-
ball: Purdue at Ohio State (BTN)
MMoonnddaayy
Virginia at Syrcause (ESPN)
ball: UConn at South Florida (ESPN2)
Oklahoma at Iowa State (ESPN)
TTuueessddaayy
Iowa at Indiana (ESPN); Maryland at
Rutgers (BTN); Eastern Michigan at Ball
State (WIPB-49)
Kentucky at Georgia (ESPN); West Vir-
ginia at Kansas (ESPN2); Michigan at
Northwestern (BTN)
WWeeddnneessddaayy
Ohio State at Penn State (BTN)
Notre Dame at Louisville (ESPN2)
Purdue at Michigan State (BTN)
8 p.m. — NBA Basketball: Los Ange-
les Lakers at Miami Heat (ESPN)
USC at UCLA (ESPN2)
10 p.m. — Men’s College Basket-
ball: Nebraska at Illinois (BTN)
10:30 p.m. — NBA Basketball: Port-
land Trial Blazers at Los Angeles Clip-
pers (ESPN)
Local notes
SSeeccttiioonnaall ttiicckkeettss oonn ssaallee
The Jay County High School athletics
department has season tickets for the
boys basketball sectional tournament
on sale.
Tickets are $10, and are good for all
games of the Wayne sectional. There
are a limited number of tickets avail-
able.
These tickets will be on sale during
regular school hours until 1 p.m. March
6.
Single game tickets are $6 and are
only available at the door.
The Patriots are slated to play the
host Wayne Generals at 6 p.m. March 6.
PPJJLL rreeggiissttrraattiioonn nnooww ooppeenn
Registration for the Portland Junior
League baseball and softball is now
open. There will also be a live registra-
tion from 9 a.m. to noon March 7 and
March 14 at Jay Community Center.
Registration forms can be picked up
at each school’s office, the Jay Commu-
nity Center or at pjlball.com.
DDooddggeebbaallll ttoouurrnneeyy iiss SSuunnddaayy
The Jay Community Center Cabin
Fever Triple Crown tournaments will con-
tinue with a dodgeball tournament Sun-
day
The tournament will begin at 1 p.m.
and cost is $60 per team.
For more information, contact the Jay
Community Center at (260) 726-6477.
CCoommmmuunniittyy sswwiimm ooppeenn
The community swim schedule for
the 2014-15 school season is under-
way.
Each swim will be Sundays from 2 to
4 p.m. at Jay County High School and is
open to the public.
Cost is $2 per swimmer, and children
under the age of 12 must be accompa-
nied by an adult.
For more information, contact Barry
Weaver at
bweaver@jayschools.k12.in.us.
GGeett yyoouurr qquueessttiioonnss aannsswweerreedd
Do you have a question about local
college or pro sports?
Email your question to
cr.sports@comcast.net with “Ask Ray” in
the subject line for a chance to have it
answered in an upcoming column.
••••••••••
To have an event listed in “Sports on
tap”, email details to sports@thecr.com.
Saturday, February 28, 2015 Sports Page 9
Let one of our friendly
agents coordinate a
policy that meets your
specific coverage needs.
Call today for
your complimentary
consultation and quote:
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Kyle Champ
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Sports on tap
Continued from page 10
Clemens added four
points the Patriots, who
reached the 17-win mark
for the fourth time in five
years.
“I’m proud of the sen-
iors going out with the
right way, going out with
a win,” said JCHS coach
Craig Teagle. “They’re
three outstanding young
men.
“Zach Pryor’s done a
great job all year deliver-
ing the ball, getting it to
the right people, initiat-
ing our defense.
“Justin Dirksen proba-
bly works as hard as any
individual I’ve ever
coached in my life, just
full speed all the time.
And then Nick Clemens
is probably one of the
smartest basketball play-
ers we’ve had. …
“It’s great that each
one of them had a role
that was significant and
important for this team
to be successful.”
The teams went back-
and-forth in the opening
period, but the Patriots
fixed their defensive exe-
cution in the second and
quickly turned the game
into a blowout.
Bellmont went score-
less for 12:19 before Evan
Selking finally split a pair
of free throws with 4:25
on the clock in the third
quarter. They went anoth-
er three minutes without
a field goal before Trace
Bauer connected on one
of his five 3-pointers.
“We were just commu-
nicating real well,” said
Pryor. “It just gets us
juiced. That really moti-
vates us and gets us going
and makes us play hard-
er.”
The game was the
fourth this season in
which the Patriots have
held and opponent score-
less for a quarter. They
blanked Muncie Central
7-0 in the season opener
en route to an overtime
win, and later shut out
Southern Wells and
Blackford.
The Braves were 1-of-13
from the field in the sec-
ond and third quarters
while Jay County
outscored them 28-4.
“They’re very disci-
plined defensively,” said
Bellmont coach John
Baker, whose team made
just a single two-point
field goal. “They do
everything so well inside
the painted area. It does-
n’t leave a whole lot of
room to operate. You take
3-point shots. They go or
they don’t go. It’s hard
when you live and die
like that.”
Adam Dirksen, Kyler
Carvel, Justin Dirksen,
Jay Houck, Clemens and
Pryor all scored for JCHS
during the second quar-
ter. Justin Dirksen and
Pryor each added two
points to open the third
quarter to complete a 23-0
run, and the Patriots
were up 53-25 when the
seniors left the game.
Justin Dirksen had five
rebounds and an assist to
go along with his team-
leading scoring total, and
Pryor added four assists
and three rebounds.
Adam Dirksen recorded
four blocks.
Jay Houck grabbed six
boards to lead JCHS to a
29-12 advantage on the
glass. The Braves had
just one offensive
rebound.
“They got so many sec-
ond-chance opportunities
rebounding inside,” said
Baker. “And on the flip
side defensively, they
cleared glass every time
and didn’t allow for us to
have second-chance
opportunities.”
Bellmont (6-16), which
closed the regular season
with seven straight loss-
es, wasn’t able to get
much going offensively
with the exception of
Bauer’s five 3-pointers
for a game-high 15 points.
Jake Hall was their No. 2
scoring with four points.
Junior varsity
Jay County dominated
the opening quarter and
never looked back in a 48-
27 victory over the
Squaws.
The Patriots (15-5), who
closed the season with
eight straight wins, were
up by eight after the
opening period. They
extended the lead to 10 at
halftime and kept the
double-digit advantage
throughout the second
half.
Ryan Burkett scored
eight points to lead
JCHS, with all of them
coming in the third quar-
ter. His evening included
a pair of 3-pointers.
Spencer Calvert, Justin
Crouch and Bryan Stan-
cliffe each added seven
points.
Josieah Mathieu
totaled a game-high nine
points for the Braves.
Daxtyn Uhlman and
Collin Selking finished
with seven points apiece.
Continued from page 10
“My technique wasn’t
good. I was just going after
it. I was spinning my arms
as fast as I could, I was
kicking as fast as I could
because I really wanted
that (top eight).”
It also helped that Fort
Wayne Snider’s Jacob
Steele, who was seeded
sixth, and the eighth-seed-
ed Dalton Mitchell of
Terre Haute South Vigo
finished 13th and 10th
respectively.
Weaver, who will be
retiring after his 40th year
leading the Patriots, was
happy Keen will get to
stand on the podium dur-
ing his final season.
“That’s fantastic,” he
said. “Finally saw some
big smiles out of him. It’s
been a long time coming.
Two years ago as a sopho-
more he came in with
some big expectations.
Last year just added to the
frustration.”
But now Keen has
reached his goal of earn-
ing hardware. Now he just
needs to improve his
place.
King, the sixth seed
from Evansville Reitz, is
ahead of Keen by four-
hundredths of a second,
and Harmon is the fifth
seed. Hamilton Southeast-
ern’s Young and Munster’s
Beckman, who were third
and second respectively at
last year’s state finals, will
be seeded first and second
Saturday. Young finished
with a time of 48.52 sec-
onds to earn the top seed,
and Beckman turned in a
time of 50.32.
Keen is confident he can
break 50 seconds.
“There’s a lot I can
improve on (tomorrow)
and hopefully I do get that
50 (second mark).”
Earns ...
The Commercial Review/Ray Cooney
Jay County High School senior Zach Pryor drives past Adam Weaver of the Bellmont Braves
during the Patriots’ 53-28 victory Friday. Pryor scored 10 points and dished out four assists in his final
game in the JCHS gym. The Patriots will open sectional play Friday against host Wayne.
MARIA STEIN, Ohio —
The Indians trailed from
the start.
They had a difficult
time keeping up down the
stretch.
The Fort Recovery High
School boys basketball
team dropped its final
Midwest Athletic Confer-
ence game of the season
Friday in a 71-46 loss to the
Marion Local Flyers.
Marion Local (17-4, 8-1
MAC) opened the game on
an 8-0 run before Fort
Recovery (7-15, 2-7) finally
scored on a bucket by
Derek Backs. The Flyers
pushed the lead to double
digits, 16-4, with 3:04 left in
the first quarter, and the
Indians would not get the
deficit to single digits
despite finding themselves
trailing by 10 points on
three separate occasions.
Marion Local, which
held Fort Recovery to six
and eight points respec-
tively in the first and sec-
ond quarters, led 18-6 after
eight minutes and 37-14 at
halftime.
The Indians put up a
fight in the third, however,
outscoring the Flyers 18-
10, but the home team
turned around and poured
in 24 points in the final
quarter for the lopsided
victory.
Darien Sheffer scored 11
points and grabbed six
rebounds to lead Fort
Recovery, which also got
seven points each from
Caleb Martin and Micaiah
Cox.
Chase Bruns and Kyle
Schroer both chipped in
with six points, and Backs
tallied five.
Cole Griesdorn paced
the Flyers with 14 points,
with Dustin Rethman and
Ryan Bruns each adding a
dozen.
Fort Recovery
falls to Flyers
Quiets ..
Jay County Patriots
vs. Bellmont Braves
Boys varsity summary
Bellmont (6-16)
FG-FGA FT-FTA PTS
Weaver 0-0 0-0 0
Fullenkamp 0-0 2-2 2
Aisnworth 1-7 0-0 3
Selking 0-2 1-2 1
Okoniewski 1-2 2-2 4
Hall 1-4 0-0 3
Tierney 0-2 0-0 0
Baker 0-3 0-0 0
Bauer 5-8 0-0 15
Merkle 0-0 0-0 0
Hess 0-0 0-0 0
Mathieu 0-1 0-0 0
Totals 8-29 5-6 28
.276 .833
Def. rebound percentage: .600
Jay County (17-6)
FG-FGA FT-FTA PTS
Burkett 0-0 0-0 0
Carvel 2-4 3-4 7
JDirksen 4-8 2-2 11
Clemens 1-3 2-2 4
Pryor 4-6 2-4 10
Runyon 2-2 2-2 6
Houck 3-9 2-2 8
Schlosser 0-0 0-0 0
ADirksen 3-6 1-1 7
Calvert 0-0 0-0 0
Stigleman 0-0 0-0 0
Grove 0-0 0-0 0
Totals 19-38 13-16 53
.500 .813
Def. rebound percentage: .955
Score by quarters:
Bellmont 13 0 4 11 — 28
Jay Co. 17 17 11 8 — 53
3-point shooting: Bellmont 7-17
(Bauer 5-7, AInsworth 1-4, Hall 1-
4, Selking 0-1, Baker 0-1). Jay
County 1-6 JDirksen 1-4, Clemens
0-1, ADirksen 0-1).
Rebounds: Bellmont 12 (Weaver
2, Fullenkamp 2, Bauer 2, Ain-
sowrth, Selking, Okoniewski, Hall,
Tierney, team). Jay County 29
(Houck 6, JDirksen 5, Carvel 4,
Pryor 3, Runyon 3, ADkirsen 3,
Clemens 2, Schlosser 2, team 1).
Assists: Bellmont 3 (Ainsworth 2,
Okoniewksi. Jay County 9 (Pryor 4,
Houck 2, Carvel, JDirksen, ADirk-
sen).
Blocks: Bellmont 2 (Okoniewski,
Tierney). Jay County .
Personal fouls: Bellmont 9 (Hall
4, Ainsowrth 3, Selking, Bauer). Jay
County Carvel, Clemens, Pryor,
Houck, ADirksen).
Turnovers: Bellmont 10. Jay
County 6.
Box score
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS —
George Hill took center
stage with the biggest
stars sitting.
Hill finished with 15
points, 10 rebounds and 12
assists, and capped the
first triple-double of his
career with three free
throws in the final 30 sec-
onds to seal the Indiana
Pacers’ 93-86 victory over
the Cleveland Cavaliers on
Friday night.
With LeBron James out
because of a sore back,
Kyrie Irving back in
Cleveland with an injured
left shoulder and Paul
George on the bench with
a broken right leg, Hill
delivered one of his most
memorable performances.
“The best part is it’s an
answer to some of the crit-
ics he had at the end of
last season,” Pacers coach
Frank Vogel said. “He can
play off the basketball and
now, this year, you’re see-
ing what he can do with
the ball in his hands.”
Of course, those same
critics may contend this
milestone game came
against team nowhere
close to full strength.
Irving’s absence was
expected. He had been list-
ed as doubtful after hurt-
ing his left shoulder
Thursday night.
James has missed 11
games this season.
Hill powers
Pacers’ victory

Keen earns medal

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