Falcons top Jay

The Patriots kept surging back. But they were never able to escape chase position.
Jay County repeatedly pulled even Saturday night, the last time coming with 1:45 remaining, but never led in the final 27 minutes as it fell 44-37 to the visiting Winchester Golden Falcons.
“We’ve just got to keep battling and good things will happen,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg after his team dropped to 1-2. “We played hard. We got down by eight there in the third quarter and came back and tied it. And then we missed some things and they hit some baskets.”
The Golden Falcons (2-0), who finished tied for 14th in this week’s Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association Class 2A poll, had topped Jay County just once in the last eight years. That victory came in 2009-10 on the way to an undefeated regular season.
“That’s just how I thought it was going to go,” said Winchester coach Ed Geesaman of the close game. “Two good teams, two good programs … I’m really happy. Our older girls stepped up.”
Jay County scored seven straight points, the last five by sophomore Catherine Dunn, to pull even with 1:45 to go. But from there, Ball State University recruit Jill Morrison took over for the Golden Falcons.
After Hayley Myers hit a free throw to reclaim the lead for Winchester, Morrison scored the final six points of the game. The key hoop came with 56.1 seconds remaining, when she drove the middle of the lane, scored, drew a foul and then converted the three-point play.
“What she does extremely well is when she can get to the basket she’s going to draw the contact,” said Krieg. “Because she’s got experience.”
Bre McIntire missed a shot in the post on the other end, and Maggie Williams grabbed the rebound for Winchester. The Golden Falcons got the ball into Morrison’s hands on each of the final two possessions, and she hit 3-of-4 free throws to ice the game.
“That’s where the experience comes in with Jill,” said Geesaman of Morrison, who finished with a game-high 17 points. “We told the girls, ‘You have got to step up. The game is close. You guys have got to find a way to finish.’ Jill Morrison did.
“We worked all summer with Jill Morrison to be in this situation, and it paid off tonight.”
For most of the night, Morrison struggled to get her points as she finished just 4-of-14 from the field with Alex Loy and Dunn hounding her. But Maggie Williams and Delaney Miller kept the Golden Falcons’ offense going.
Williams joined Morrison in double figures with 12 points, and Miller hit all of her four field-goal attempts to add eight points while grabbing a team-best eight rebounds.
“Offseason was a big key for Maggie Williams and Delaney Miller,” Geesaman said. “(They) spent a lot of time in the gym.”
Jay County was up 4-1 early, but fell behind on a Williams hoop midway through the opening quarter and never took the lead again.
The Patriots repeatedly fought back, scoring the final four points of the first quarter to even the score at 10 and the final five of the second to tie the game at 20. They finished the third on a 9-2 run to slash an eight-point deficit to 30-29.
The 7-0 run led by Dunn tied the game with 1:45 to play, but JCHS couldn’t get another shot to fall.
Dunn, the lone Patriot in double figures with 14 points, and Katie Aker (seven points, nine rebounds) were both in foul trouble for much of the night. Dunn had two fouls in the opening quarter and picked up her third nine seconds into the third. Aker was called for her third foul 11 seconds later.
“The fact that we were in foul trouble, a lot, was frustrating,” said Krieg. “That hurt us.
“Katie is very aggressive around the basket. And Catherine is a very aggressive on-the-ball defender. … It hurts, because now we’ve got to back off defensively. One of the best things we’ve got going right now is our defense.”
Alex Loy hit two 3-pointers to add six points for the Patriots, who struggled from the field (15-of-57, 26 percent) and the line (4-of-11, 35 percent). Bre McIntire grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with five points, and Amber Huelskamp dished out four assists.

Junior varsity
Lyla Muhlenkamp lit up the scoreboard in the fourth quarter as the Patriots pulled away for a 31-25 victory over Winchester.
Jay County outscored the Golden Falcons 7-2 in the opening quarter, but trailed by one heading into the fourth. That’s when Muhlenkamp caught fire, scoring 12 points in the final six minutes.
Muhlenkamp finished with a game-high 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Abby Wendel and Ava Kunkler added five points apiece.
Mariah Roberts led Winchester with 10 points. Kenzie Schwieterman scored seven.[[In-content Ad]]