July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Jay runs streak to 25
JCHS girls basketball
Jay runs streak to 25
DECATUR - Hot shooting from long distance can really open up the floor.
The Jay County High School girls basketball team buried each of its first four 3-point tries Friday night as part. That opened the door to the inside, where the Patriots did most of their damage in the second quarter.
The former keyed a 16-2 opening run, the latter helped Jay County extend the lead to as many as 26 points in the third quarter of a 49-28 victory over the host Bellmont Squaws.
It was the team's 25th consecutive regular-season victory.
"The first half was as much fun as I've had coaching," said Luke Cummings, who is in his first year coaching JCHS after coaching the East Noble boys team last season. "Watching them share the basketball, watching them find the open man, being fundamental, just doing things the right way was a lot of fun for us tonight."
Pazia Speed gave the Patriots (3-0) their first points of the game on a drive to the lane, and then she and Erin Hunt nailed back-to-back 3-pointers as part of an opening 10-0 run. Two more 3-pointers - one each from Kassi Hemmelgarn and Katie Butcher from Speed assists - extended Jay County's lead to 16-2.
"We got off to a slow start," said Bellmont coach Tory Fuelling. "That's kind of been our problem this year. When we're not shooting the ball ... we don't play well defensively either. ... We kind of get down a little bit.
"A team like that, when they get a big lead, they're not going to give it up."
Hunt added another triple to start the second quarter, and then Speed and Butcher took turns feeding the ball to Mariah Hornaday and Danielle Link in the paint.
The Patriots opened the game 5-of-6 from long distance, and Hornaday and Link combined for 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first half.
"The way we try to spread people out and take advantage of our screens, (when we hit 3-pointers) they've got to go out and cover the shooters," said Cummings. "They've got to come up on Pazia. And then we are able to dump it inside."
And when the Patriots did miss - it was rare as they shot 64 percent from the field in the first half - Hornaday and Link were there to clean up the glass. They led JCHS to an 18-5 rebounding advantage in the first half, and Fuelling said his team failed to grab a defensive rebound until after the intermission.
"That means they scored every time they had the ball or turned it over," said Fuelling, whose team got out-rebounded 28-13 for the game. "That's something that we've been working on all year is rebounding. But they hurt us on the boards. We just didn't get people to block them out."
Speed, the lone senior on the JCHS squad that finished 11th in the voting in this week's Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association poll, finished with more points than any two Squaws combined. She scored 17 while dishing out seven assists and grabbing five rebounds.
"I thought Pazia played as good a game as you can play this early in the season," said Cummings. "The transformation she's made from not having to handle the ball as much ... to now being in control of things, it was a lot of fun to watch. She was really good tonight."
Hornaday joined Speed in double figures as she hit all of her six field-goal attempts for 12 points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds, and Link had six points and five boards.
"They're doing a good job," said Cummings of his inside duo. "I thought tonight we didn't rely on our height. We really got down and blocked out."
Katie Butcher chipped in five assists, and Cummings also praised the effort he has gotten from Hemmelgarn in the last two games. She is one of the players who has seen extended minutes since the Patriots lost junior guard Cara Garringer to a season-ending knee injury in the season opener.
"I think since the first game we've made just huge steps taking care of the basketball, controlling the tempo," said Cummings. "We still pushed the ball tonight, but we also understood that we're looking for the good shot."
Bellmont (1-3) got six points apiece from Madison Gross, Madison Schultz and Carrie Terveer. Payton Schultz grabbed four rebounds.
The Patriots have limted opponents to an average of just 25.3 points per game so far this year. They travel to Winchester tonight to take on the Golden Falcons, who are led by former JCHS coach Kirk Comer (2004-09).
Junior varsity
The Patriots trailed by one with just 30 seconds remaining, but came up big late to pull out a 32-30 win over Bellmont.
A 3-pointer gave the Squaws the lead with 41 seconds left, but JCHS (3-0) responded when Mollie May scored off of a LeAnn Horn assists just 13 seconds later. Following a turnover May split a pair of free throws, and then she grabbed the rebound after Ashley Piper of Bellmont missed on a 3-pointer in the closing seconds.
Ainsworth led Jay County with 10 points, and May followed with nine. Horn and Maria Murphy each chipped in four.
Lauren Bowman scored 10 points to pace the Squaws, who trailed 20-14 at the half. Piper was next with six points.[[In-content Ad]]
The Jay County High School girls basketball team buried each of its first four 3-point tries Friday night as part. That opened the door to the inside, where the Patriots did most of their damage in the second quarter.
The former keyed a 16-2 opening run, the latter helped Jay County extend the lead to as many as 26 points in the third quarter of a 49-28 victory over the host Bellmont Squaws.
It was the team's 25th consecutive regular-season victory.
"The first half was as much fun as I've had coaching," said Luke Cummings, who is in his first year coaching JCHS after coaching the East Noble boys team last season. "Watching them share the basketball, watching them find the open man, being fundamental, just doing things the right way was a lot of fun for us tonight."
Pazia Speed gave the Patriots (3-0) their first points of the game on a drive to the lane, and then she and Erin Hunt nailed back-to-back 3-pointers as part of an opening 10-0 run. Two more 3-pointers - one each from Kassi Hemmelgarn and Katie Butcher from Speed assists - extended Jay County's lead to 16-2.
"We got off to a slow start," said Bellmont coach Tory Fuelling. "That's kind of been our problem this year. When we're not shooting the ball ... we don't play well defensively either. ... We kind of get down a little bit.
"A team like that, when they get a big lead, they're not going to give it up."
Hunt added another triple to start the second quarter, and then Speed and Butcher took turns feeding the ball to Mariah Hornaday and Danielle Link in the paint.
The Patriots opened the game 5-of-6 from long distance, and Hornaday and Link combined for 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first half.
"The way we try to spread people out and take advantage of our screens, (when we hit 3-pointers) they've got to go out and cover the shooters," said Cummings. "They've got to come up on Pazia. And then we are able to dump it inside."
And when the Patriots did miss - it was rare as they shot 64 percent from the field in the first half - Hornaday and Link were there to clean up the glass. They led JCHS to an 18-5 rebounding advantage in the first half, and Fuelling said his team failed to grab a defensive rebound until after the intermission.
"That means they scored every time they had the ball or turned it over," said Fuelling, whose team got out-rebounded 28-13 for the game. "That's something that we've been working on all year is rebounding. But they hurt us on the boards. We just didn't get people to block them out."
Speed, the lone senior on the JCHS squad that finished 11th in the voting in this week's Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association poll, finished with more points than any two Squaws combined. She scored 17 while dishing out seven assists and grabbing five rebounds.
"I thought Pazia played as good a game as you can play this early in the season," said Cummings. "The transformation she's made from not having to handle the ball as much ... to now being in control of things, it was a lot of fun to watch. She was really good tonight."
Hornaday joined Speed in double figures as she hit all of her six field-goal attempts for 12 points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds, and Link had six points and five boards.
"They're doing a good job," said Cummings of his inside duo. "I thought tonight we didn't rely on our height. We really got down and blocked out."
Katie Butcher chipped in five assists, and Cummings also praised the effort he has gotten from Hemmelgarn in the last two games. She is one of the players who has seen extended minutes since the Patriots lost junior guard Cara Garringer to a season-ending knee injury in the season opener.
"I think since the first game we've made just huge steps taking care of the basketball, controlling the tempo," said Cummings. "We still pushed the ball tonight, but we also understood that we're looking for the good shot."
Bellmont (1-3) got six points apiece from Madison Gross, Madison Schultz and Carrie Terveer. Payton Schultz grabbed four rebounds.
The Patriots have limted opponents to an average of just 25.3 points per game so far this year. They travel to Winchester tonight to take on the Golden Falcons, who are led by former JCHS coach Kirk Comer (2004-09).
Junior varsity
The Patriots trailed by one with just 30 seconds remaining, but came up big late to pull out a 32-30 win over Bellmont.
A 3-pointer gave the Squaws the lead with 41 seconds left, but JCHS (3-0) responded when Mollie May scored off of a LeAnn Horn assists just 13 seconds later. Following a turnover May split a pair of free throws, and then she grabbed the rebound after Ashley Piper of Bellmont missed on a 3-pointer in the closing seconds.
Ainsworth led Jay County with 10 points, and May followed with nine. Horn and Maria Murphy each chipped in four.
Lauren Bowman scored 10 points to pace the Squaws, who trailed 20-14 at the half. Piper was next with six points.[[In-content Ad]]
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