Although he has some impressive basketball bloodlines of his own to draw on, Terre Haute South’s Jay Smith is compared to a completely unrelated player by his coach.
“To me, he’s the closest thing to a Reggie Miller-type of shooter I’ve seen,” said Mike Saylor of his senior guard, who scored a career-high 30 points in helping his high school team to third place in the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic last week, earning all-tournament team honors in the process. “He can catch it and shoot it quickly.”
Being compared to Miller — or any other long-range shooter — might seem surprising to Wabash Valley basketball fans who remember Smith’s father from a two-year career at Indiana State. James Smith, a 6-foot-8 power forward, came to ISU as a rebounding and defensive specialist good enough to earn junior college All-America honors at Allegany (Md.), although he did — somewhat reluctantly, it appeared — lead ISU in scoring as a senior in the 1982-83 campaign.
Defense is not Jay’s forte yet, and he’s built more like the slender Miller than his father — although he rebounded fiercely at times during the Classic, even leading his team in that category in one game. So the conversations at home are somewhat predictable.
“[My father] is always talking about my defense and my rebounding,” Jay said this week. “He always says defense brings offense, and that [college] coaches are always looking at guards who can rebound.”
“A long-armed, athletic guard like he is can help us [on the boards],” Saylor agreed this week. “He’s got extraordinary ability as a shooter, and his best basketball is ahead of him as his body matures.
“As he works harder to get a college body, that would help him in a lot of areas of the game. He’s an excellent student, has a great attitude and comes from a good basketball background — and if he’d inherited his dad’s height, we would literally have a Reggie Miller.”
One thing father and son definitely have in common is their on-court demeanor, which ranges from deadly serious to full glower. Appearances can be deceiving, however; Jay Smith indicated this week he is far from an unhappy player — and that he understood the process last year when he saw limited varsity action with the Braves’ team that reached the Class 4A Final Four.
“We had a real good team last year,” he said, “so I can kind of understand taking a back seat. I knew this season would come, and I’d get plenty of time to help the team.”
And now, with the Braves having won four of five games since an 0-5 start, Jay is ready for both he and the Braves to take additional strides as they travel to Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference foe Warren Central tonight and to Bedford North Lawrence on Saturday.
“I feel like we weren’t together long enough to have chemistry at the beginning [of the season],” he said, “but now we’re starting to get it.
“We’re just now scraping our talent level. We’ll be a hard team to reckon with at tournament time.”
Jay Smith will likely be a shooter other coaches will have to prepare for at that time too.
“I’ve been shooting pretty good so far,” he said this week. “I’m just here to help the team.”
Even James Smith has been somewhat converted to a shooter’s mentality, his son added.
“He also tells me, ‘You shoot to get hot, and you shoot to stay hot,’ ” Jay said.
High School
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Prep Profile: South’s Jay Smith drawing on father’s experience
- High School
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North wins easily: Pats’ sectional triumph is their 29th
Terre Haute North started the South Putnam Girls Track Sectional with a relay win and ended it with a relay win Tuesday, cruising to victory by almost 100 points.
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North-South tennis match likely to produce champion
The official championship match for the IHSAA girls tennis sectional being played at Terre Haute South is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Kimmel pitches two-hitter in North win
Nickohli Kimmel pitched a two-hit shutout over five innings to help Terre Haute North defeat host Vincennes Rivet 12-0 in high school baseball Tuesday.
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Marshall gets break in 6th
Paris pitcher Dalton Chambers and Marshall’s hitters both flirted with postseason high school baseball disaster for a long time Monday afternoon.
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PREP ROUNDUP: North, South to meet in 1st round of tennis sectional
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Ranked North is heavy sectional favorite
Wabash Valley track and field standouts will get their chance to shine when the IHSAA sectionals take place today for the girls at South Putnam and Thursday for the boys at Terre Haute North.
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Knights grab 2 titles in 1
Northview won more than a high school softball game Monday when the Knights defeated West Vigo 16-0 in five innings at Northview.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Panthers clinch WRC softball title
Riverton Parke clinched the Wabash River Conference championship in high school softball outright Saturday by sweeping a doubleheader from Attica by scores of 16-0 and 9-2.
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Vikings win dramatic twinbill
A shaky start that blossomed into a no-hitter for Brandon Calleja. Newfound appreciation for the wide-open spaces of Bob Warn Field for Lucas Fagg. And last-inning drama from the Stewart twins.
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Doubleheader split gives Knights kindling to stoke fire
Northview opened Saturday’s doubleheader at Danville High School with a conference title secured, a double-digit winning streak, a winning high school baseball season in the bag and not a lot of motivation going into the final two weeks of the regular season.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Terre Haute South softball knocks off No. 1 Carmel
Terre Haute South’s Lexi Higgins doubled in Hollie Jones and Kelsey Marlow to tie the score before coming home from third base with the go-ahead run on an infield fielding error in the top of the seventh inning, then pitcher Hanna Gossman held Class 4A No. 1-ranked Carmel scoreless in the bottom of the frame to preserve an 8-7 victory in Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school softball Saturday.
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West Vigo’s Thornton, South’s Stout earn Kehrt Awards
Cody Thornton of West Vigo and Marissa Stout of Terre Haute South are the 2012 Willard M. Kehrt Mental Attitude Award recipients.
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Shakamak moved one step closer to winning the SouthWestern Indiana Athletic Conference high school baseball championship with a 7-1 win over Clay City on Friday.
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South gets balanced attack vs. Shakamak
When a pitcher from Terre Haute South’s beleaguered staff threatens to get a no-hitter in high school softball, perhaps even a perfect game, it would seem to be a big deal.
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Wilson, Otter Creek celebrate Middle School track titles
Woodrow Wilson and Otter Creek Middle Schools came out on top during the Vigo County Middle School track meet at Terre Haute North on Thursday.
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Cody Brock homered for Terre Haute South in a 9-2 home victory over Sullivan in high school baseball Thursday.
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Vikings can’t hold back Mustangs
West Vigo took a 3-1 first-inning lead on Wednesday, but Edgewood scored last to defeat the Vikings 4-3 in nine innings in a Western Indiana Conference baseball game at Ballinger Field.
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Prep roundup: Burnham throws 1-hitter, collects three hits for Panthers in win
Sarah Burnham tossed a one-hitter and totaled three hits as Riverton Parke swept Turkey Run in a high school softball doubleheader Wednesday by scores of 12-0 and 6-3.
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Fearsome four: Shakamak pitching staff a deeply talented group
With a huge SouthWestern Indiana Athletic Conference game coming up in less than a week, coach Chip Sweet of Shakamak used two pitchers against a powerful Northview team in high school baseball about a month ago, and was pleasantly surprised when Patrick Green and Brock Dowell combined for a shutout in a 4-0 win.
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South boys employ bump & run; North girls cruise to victory
The bump and run is employed by defensive backs in football, but the tactic is not always utilized in track meets.
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PREP ROUNDUP: North golfers stay unbeaten in 9-hole matches
Terre Haute North remained unbeaten in nine-hole boys high school golf matches Tuesday, outcoring Northview 163-184 at Hulman Links.
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Knights will get at least a share of WIC title
Monday was a good day for Northview in high school baseball.
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PREP ROUNDUP: South dominates Sullivan in tennis
Visiting Terre Haute South dominated the No. 1 spots in high school tennis Monday evening as the Braves defeated Sullivan 5-0.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Knights never trail in winning Big 4 title
Host Northview went from an 0-3 Big 4 Tournament performance in high school baseball a year ago to winning the championship late Saturday night, downing Terre Haute South 6-4 in the championship game.
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Host Northview wins Big Four baseball tourney
Host Northview defeated Terre Haute South 6-4 late Saturday night to win the Big Four Tournament in high school baseball.
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South boys, North girls win Big 4 track titles
Terre Haute South’s boys and Terre Haute North’s girls prevailed on a record-breaking Saturday in the Big Four Track and Field Meet at Northview’s track complex.
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Softball round robin yet to determine champ
There is no 2012 Big Four Classic champion for high school softball.
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PREP ROUNDUP: North third, South fifth in MIC tennis
Terre Haute North finished third and Terre Haute South fifth in the eight-team Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference championships for girls high school tennis Saturday at Ben Davis’ courts.
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South comes from behind for MIC baseball series win over North
A once-gripping high school baseball game turned into a comedy of errors after a frustrating and unfortunate weather delay Friday night at Terre Haute North, but visiting Terre Haute South maintained its lead — widened it considerably, in fact — and prevailed 8-4.
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