Jay needed a big victory

There’s really no such thing as a must-win in regular season high school girls basketball.
The tournament isn’t seeded, so an extra loss here and there doesn’t make a difference at sectional time. And in Jay County’s case, there is no conference title to play for either.
But if there was ever a team in need of a win, it was the Patriots. They had lost five in a row.
The first three of those games were understandable losses against a quality Marion team, a state-ranked Concordia squad and a Muncie Central group let by one of the best players in the area. It was the last two that really hurt.
The first came Dec. 12, when Jay County gave away a 17-point lead in the final eight minutes in a loss to Frankton. The Patriots followed that up with their first loss to Blackford in more than a decade.
That’s why Saturday’s game against Fort Recovery was so important.
And it’s why Jay County’s performance was so impressive.
The Patriots could have taken to their home court, where they were 0-5, with their heads down, especially against a team they had lost to in each of the last three seasons. Instead, they were ready.
JCHS came out aggressively. They pushed the ball, attacked the basket and protected the basket with strong team defense. In the process, they built a double-digit lead in the opening quarter.
“We were sitting pretty good at halftime, but we’ve been down this road before. And we’ve kind of relaxed,” said coach Chris Krieg, whose Jay County squad took a 29-18 advantage at halftime. “Why I’m proud of the girls is we didn’t relax. We kept going hard at them.”
The Indians rallied, like any good team would. And there were moments when it seemed the problems that have plagued the Patriots, namely turnovers, would come back to bite them again.
But they weathered the storm and made enough plays late to survive for a 50-45 victory.
Freshman guard Taylor Homan played a key role in the closing minutes, handling the Fort Recovery full-court pressure defense, assisting on a couple of Ava Kunkler baskets and hitting a pair of clutch free throws with 1.8 seconds left to seal the game.
“I was kind of nervous,” said Homan of those final shots. “I just tried to block out the crowd and the noise and follow through.”
A loss to the Indians could have sent Jay County into an even deeper spiral.
They make the long trip to Kokomo next, and then have a home date against a 7-1 New Castle team.
Instead, the win gives the Patriots a chance to get their season, which included a run of four straight road wins before the recent losing streak, back on the right track. Four of their next five opponents have records of .500 or worse.
The victory should give Jay County a boost in confidence, which could have been waning. And it came because the Patriots carried out their game plan, stayed mentally tough in the face of adversity and, following Krieg’s advice, trusted each other and themselves.
“I thought we worked awesome together,” said senior Katie Aker. “We executed well. We did all the right things.
“Our focus was to get a win at home. We haven’t had a win, and we needed it.”[[In-content Ad]]