Murphy lifts Patriots

The battle between Jay County and Kokomo was all about defense.
Both teams shot less than 40 percent from the field and struggled at the foul line. The halftime scored was just 11-7.
But when the Patriots needed a basket, Maria Murphy delivered.
The junior forward’s shot over Anastacia Kirby with just 5.7 seconds left lifted the Jay County High School girls basketball team to a 27-26 victory over the visiting Kokomo Wildkats.
“This is a great win, because our effort was there,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg, whose team bounced back from a 40-point loss in their last game. “Our energy level seemed to be really high. …
“This is a huge win. It was a great confidence builder for us.”
The Patriots (8-4) saw a 10-point lead disappear and trailed 26-22 with just 1:04 remaining. But Erin Hunt, who turned in a huge three-point play two minutes earlier, buried a 3-pointer from near the top of the key to cut the deficit to one with 50 seconds to go.
Kokomo (6-5) missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity on the ensuing possession, and JCHS eventually called timeout with 17.3 seconds left.The Patriots worked through several options, including the possibility of another Hunt 3-point try, before Hunt hit Murphy with a bounce pass in the paint.
Murphy spun toward the basket, creating some space from Kirby, and flipped the ball up and in.
“Maria did a great job of using her strength to get into position,” said Krieg of Murphy, who finished with game highs of nine points and eight rebounds. “And Erin made a great bounce pass in to her for the finish. … Maria has been a beast around the basket.”
The Wildkats had a final opportunity, as Kendra Ryker tossed her inbound pass over Katie Butcher’s head to senior guard Caroline Harbaugh. She dribbled ahead and passed to Kelly Hopkins near the baseline, but the clock ran out before the 6-foot-3-inch post player was even able to secure the pass.
“They did a good job of forcing us too far down the floor,” said Kokomo coach Jason Snyder. “We tried to throw over the top, we just didn’t quite throw it far enough.”
Before the final three minutes the game was one of defensive dominance and offensive futility.
Jay County’s defense dominated the first half, limiting the Wildkats to just two field goals and holding them scoreless for a span of more than 10 minutes. The Patriots were up 11-3 before Kokomo scored four points in the final 40 seconds of the half, including a 3-pointer by Jordan Johnson with just two seconds on the clock.
In the second half, JCHS pushed its lead to 10 points before falling into a drought. Kokomo held the Patriots without a point for more than nine minutes, going on a 12-0 run to take the lead.
“These are two teams who are going to grind it out, who are going to fight,” said Snyder. “I think if you look at our scores throughout the season, that’s what you’re going to see. We both did that again tonight. … It was just two teams battling hard.
“They do a great job of packing in the paint, and we didn’t really shoot well from outside. You’ve got to knock shots down from the outside against Jay County …
“I thought we got more things out of transition (in the second half). … We pushed the ball a little bit more.”
The Patriots briefly reclaimed the lead before Kokomo pushed to a 26-22 lead on a Harbaugh free throw with 1:04 left. Then Hunt, who was 0-for-3 from long range at the time, buried her key 3-pointer to help set up Murphy’s game-winner.
Murphy, Hornaday (eight rebounds) and Butcher (five rebounds) led JCHS to a 23-18 advantage on the glass as they battled Kelly Hopkins and Lisa Hopkins, who stands 6-2.
“Our goal was to limit their second-chance opportunities, because the three games I’ve seen them play they’ve scored more than half their points on put-backs,” said Krieg. “They didn’t have very many offensive rebounds tonight.”
The victory kept the Patriots undefeated against North Central Conference foes. They also defeated Marion 39-36 and Muncie Central 42-34.

Junior varsity
Jay County limited the Wildkats to just four points in each quarter on the way to a 28-16 victory.
Emily Devoe and LeAnn Horn each scored six points for the Patriots, who led by four at the half. Katie Aker tallied all of her five points in the first half, and Abbi Dunlavy also scored five points.
Brayana Fowler and Schnetavia Williams each scored three points for Kokomo.[[In-content Ad]]