Patriots rally to win finale

Comebacks are common on the basketball court and baseball and football fields. They’re far more elusive in gymnastics.
But in their final home meet of the year, the Patriots came tumbling back past Hagerstown to keep their perfect record in tact.
Jay County used a strong floor performance to erase a deficit of more than two points Thursday, edging the visiting Tigers 101.225-100.925 to complete its second straight undefeated regular season.
The announcement of the final score drew a cheer from the surprised Patriot gymnasts — “How did we pull that off?” said senior Tasya Smith — who knew they were in a deep hole heading into their final event.
Jay County trailed heading into the final rotation by 2.425 points — a chasm in gymnastics — but rallied back partially because its top three gymnasts all executed bonus skills on the floor exercise to bump their start values up to 10. The team turned in a dominant effort with Lizzy Schoenlein, Malarie Houck and Smith performing mostly-clean routines to all score 8.9 or better for a team total of 27.125.
Schoenlein led the way, surpassing her career-best score of 9.25 with a first-place 9.275. Smith followed with a 9.0 for third place, and Houck completed the team score with an 8.9.
Facing such a large deficit, Smith said she and her teammates knew they had to be at their best to have a chance to win. That showed, as Rhianon Mills (8.475) and Miranda Hibbard (8.3) also put up career-best scores.
“It feels good. I know that I had a rough night, and I knew that I didn’t do as well as I would have chosen for myself for senior night,” said Smith, who was frustrated after falls on both the uneven bars and balance beam, “but I’m glad to see our team can pull it together when some of us are struggling. It’s nice as a senior. It’s nice to go out with a win.”
The Patriots’ deficit was even deeper before Schoenlein’s balance beam routine closed the gap.
After falls dragged down the overall team score on the event, Schoenlein turned in Jay County’s lone no-fall routine. She connected her tumbling into her dismount, and landed it with only a slight step.
Her score originally flashed as a 9.1, but after a calculation error was discovered it bumped up to a first-place 9.3. It was by far the best score of the night on the event, more than a half-point better than runner-up Maddie Davis (8.65) of the Tigers.
“I didn’t fall off, so that was good,” said Schoenlein, who was also third on the uneven bars with an 8.0 and shared the No. 3 team score on the vault. “And I connected almost everything.”
The Patriots were solid across the board on the vault, with Smith posting an 8.8 for second place. Houck was third with an 8.775, and Maddie Strausburg and Schoenlein shared the No. 3 score of 8.75.
Davis won the vault (8.9) and bars (8.3) and shared the top spot on the floor with Schoenlein as she and teammate Macie Bush finished in the top three on every event to lead Hagerstown. Bush was the runner-up on the floor (9.025), beam (8.65) and bars (8.1).
Houck followed Schoenlein for JCHS on the beam, hitting her back walkover and falling only on her three-quarter wolf jump for a 7.95. Strausburg also had a one-fall routine and hit her dismount as she added a 7.4.
Smith (7.725) and Jocelyn Huey (7.25) scored for the Patriots on the bars.
The victory marked the final home meet for seniors Olivia Cash, who has not competed this season because of an injury, and Smith.
“She’s been a trooper,” said JCHS coach Lora Schlosser of Cash. “She comes to every practice … supports the girls. We’ll miss her.
“Tasya of course has been a four-year varsity all-around gymnast. She’s been a nice, steady performer for us. She’ll be very much missed.”
Jay County will take its perfect record into the sectional meet March 8 at Concordia, where it will battle against No. 2 Bishop Dwenger and No. 10 Carroll in a 13-team field.
“I’d really like them to go to there and beat out their highest team score,” said Schlosser.
Jay County swept the junior varsity events Thursday, with Jocelyn Huey posting a high score of 8.45 to win the vault. Sierra Trobridge took first place on the floor exercise with a 7.85, and Hibbard earned the top spot on the balance beam with a 6.25.[[In-content Ad]]