A contrast in styles

The Giants and Patriots are a contrast in styles, a classic case of the unstoppable force against the immovable object.

No two teams in Class 4A are better at what they do.

Marion is a run-and-gun, high-octane scoring machine, putting more points on the board than any other team in Indiana's big-school division. Jay County prefers to play deliberate offense paired with a stifling defense that gives up fewer points than any other team in Class 4A.

One will win out Friday at 6 p.m., or whenever the weather allows them to take the court, as they meet in the opening round of the girls basketball sectional tournament hosted by JCHS. The tournament was originally scheduled to start Tuesday.

"That's something that we've concentrated on - transition defense - something that we've been good at all year," said Patriot coach Luke Cummings Tuesday after practice. "We've known for the tournament that would have to be one of our strengths.

"(The Giants are) athletic and long. ... We know they want to transition and get the ball up and down the court. It seems like they've got someone each time leaking and trying to get down (the floor). Teams that have been successful against them have been able to stop that."

No team in Class 4A has been more successful at stopping opposing teams from scoring than Jay County (16-6).

Its defensive scoring average of 33.2 is more than a full point less than the next best squad in the class, Mishawaka at 34.3. It ranks seventh in the state overall and held opponents to fewer than 30 points nine times this year.

The Patriots held 16 out of 22 opponents to less than 40 points, and the only team to reach 50 was Class 3A No. 2 Norwell (20-0).

From the start of his first season with JCHS, Cummings has wanted his team to "Create the Nightmare" with his zone defense. He hopes for more of the same against the Giants.

"I think they get frustrated with that style," Cummings said. "That's fine with us. That's what we've been trying to do all year is frustrate teams and get them to do the things that we need them to do to win the games. ... We like to be able to go out and frustrate teams."

Marion (15-5) has scored at least 50 points in each of its games this year and cleared 90 three times in January. It averages 67.7 points per game, the best in Class 4A by nearly a full point, and fourth in the state overall.

Katrina Blackmon leads the scoring attack at 16.6 points per game, and three other Giants score more than nine points per game. She averages 5.1 rebounds and 2.9 steals per game.

Laura Friday, a sophomore, led the North Central Conference in 3-point shooting, hitting 35 for the season and shooting at a 38-percent clip. The point guard was also the conference leader in both assists (6.9) and steals (3.1) per game.

See Contrast page 11

Continued from page 12

Seniors Dani Gilmer and Chelsea Mortor each score 9.6 points per game, with Gilmer shooting nearly 50 percent from the field and grabbing 7.1 rebounds per contest.

"Blackmon ... is one of the better juniors in the state," said Cummings. "She's just so long and athletic and can do a lot of things with the basketball in her hands. ... She's very good in transition and can do a lot of stuff off the dribble. Defensively she's so aware and gets a lot of steals and that allows her to get a lot of easy baskets too."

Not much has been easy for the Patriots this season.

They opened the year with an impressive 39-32 win over Fort Wayne Southside - they would meet the Archers again in the sectional semifinals if they beat Marion - but lost junior guard Cara Garringer to a season-ending knee injury in the process. Garringer was the team's No. 2 returning scorer to Pazia Speed, the only senior on the squad.

Jay County didn't let in the injury phase it, running out to an 11-2 start with the only losses against Norwell and Class 2A No. 1 Winchester (20-0). But near the end of that run, junior guard Katie Butcher suffered a knee injury in practice that put her on the sidelines for the season as well.

Even with two starters out for the final 10 games, the Patriots finished the season with a 16-6 record. Their losses came to teams with a combined record of 93-30, and their three defeats since Jan. 1 came by a combined total of six points.

"I think we are pretty tough," said Cummings of how his team has handled adversity. "It's like (Tuesday), we get delayed and not a single person says anything. We move on and do what we're supposed to do ... and adjust to that. ... It's neat ... to see how tough these girls have been to adjust to it.

"It just makes me feel good going into the tournament that we are ready ... Whichever team is in front of us, we know that we're ready for it. It doesn't mean we're going to win the tournament, but it means that we're going to be prepared."[[In-content Ad]]