Patriots fight off MC

Shooting 32 percent and turning the ball over nine times in the second half isn’t the way the Patriots drew it up. But an ugly win is still a win.
Jay County High School’s girls basketball team did enough down the stretch Thursday, hitting 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute, to fight off the visiting Monroe Central Golden Bears for a 37-32 victory.
“It’s a win,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg, whose team had dropped three of its previous four. “Right now that’s the most important thing for the girls is to get a win. We played hard.”
The Patriots (9-6) never trailed, but in a game in which points were at a premium, they were never able to put much distance between themselves and Monroe Central. The visitors never fell more than three possessions behind, and were able to close the gap from an eight-point halftime deficit to four at the end of the third quarter. And with a 7-0 run in the final period, the Golden Bears pulled even at 26.
Jay County reclaimed the lead on a Maria Murphy score off a Kassi Hemmelgarn assist with 2:59 on the clock. And after a Monroe Central turnover, Hemmelgarn drove right down the middle of the lane for a lay-up and four-point lead.
The Golden Bears never pulled even again as Hemmelgarn, Cara Garringer, Erin Hunt and Mariah Hornaday combined to ice the game at the foul line.
A large chunk of the Patriots’ scoring came in the paint, where Hornaday finished with 10 points and Danielle Link added eight.
“Danielle is going to help us out a lot,” said Krieg of the senior, who was in just her second game back after suffering multiple injuries in the season opener. “I thought Mariah played well, and obviously (Maria Murphy) inside. We’re awfully good one-on-one in the post. … We’ve just got to be patient.”
JCHS also got seven points from Erin Hunt, who struggled in the first half but buried a couple of key 3-pointers in the second.
Jay County took control of the game early, keeping the Golden Bears (8-7) from even getting looks at the basket. Monroe Central went without a point until Katelind Phillips scored with 21.9 seconds left.
The Golden Bears finished the opening period 1-of-6 from the field with seven turnovers, but still trailed just 6-3.
“We got a little bit careless at the beginning of the game,” said Monroe Central coach Jeff Tharp. “We had more turnovers than shot opportunities in that first quarter, and that kind of buried us a little bit.”
The Patriots continued to play strong defense in the second quarter, extending their lead to 15-7 at the break. They held Monroe Central to just 3-of-12 shooting (25 percent) in the opening half.
The Golden Bears became the 11th team Jay County, which ranks seventh in Class 4A in defense average, has held to fewer than 40 points this season.
“Realistically we’re not going to score 60 or 70 points a game,” said Krieg, whose team hasn’t broken 40 in the last six games. “So we’ve got to control the tempo. … We’ve got to for us to put ourselves in a position to win. … Our goal is defense.”
Makayla Thurman was key to bringing the Golden Bears back, as she scored 13 of her game-high 15 points after the intermission. That included the game-tying free throw midway through the fourth quarter before Jay County reclaimed the advantage on the way to the win.
Kelley Lacey added six points for Monroe Central, and Phillips scored five.
“I’m really happy with our effort,” said Tharp, whose team shot 50 percent in the second half. “I was happy with the second half. We talked about coming back and making a game of it, and we were successful doing that.
“We knew it was going to be low possession. And we wanted to have an opportunity to be in it at the end of the game.
“We’re trying to get ready for the sectional. … They’re just great competition for us.”

Junior varsity
The Patriots dominated the third quarter as they picked up a 25-14 victory over Monroe Central.
LeAnn Horn scored six points for Jay County (12-3), which led by two at halftime before outscoring the Golden Bears 12-3 in the third quarter. Amber Huelskamp, Tiffany Huelskamp, Katie Aker and Katlin Petro each added four points.
Kalle Gaddis totaled nine points to lead Monroe Central. April McQueary chipped in four.[[In-content Ad]]