Senior night struggle

Jay County was hoping to end its home schedule with a Senior Night win to give it some momentum with tournament play just a week away.
Instead, the Patriots are in the midst of their longest losing streak in five seasons.
With turnovers continuing to be an issue, Jay County fell behind by 19 midway through the second quarter Tuesday in a 56-36 loss to the visiting Pendleton Heights Arabians.
“When you turn the ball over three to four times more than your opponent, that’s going to hurt,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg, whose team gave the ball away 18 times while Pendleton Heights had just six turnovers. “When you shoot 6-of-19 around the basket, that’s going to hurt. And then they came out in the first half and they were 5-of-10 from three. …
“When you turn the ball over that much and they’re hitting, you dig such a huge hole …”
The combination of turnovers and sharp-shooting from the Arabians (11-8) had Jay County trailing 16-5 after Kelsey Hubble’s 3-pointer capped a 9-0 run to close the opening quarter. Pendleton Heights added an 8-0 run, including triples from Hubble and Quincey Gary, in the second period to push its advantage to 27-8 and never let the lead slip to single digits.
Hubble, who fired away from well behind the arc, finished with three 3-pointers and shot 7-of-12 from the field on the way to an 18-point evening.
“She’s a Hubble,” said PHHS coach Shari Doud. “There’s been three of them go through … She has two older siblings playing college ball who both shoot the three really well. So, it’s in their blood.
“A lot of times our energy is inspired by making shots and we shot the ball really well in the first half. That’s always instant energy, adrenaline, and it makes our press go. That’s always helpful.”
The Patriots (11-7) got back to within 11 midway through the third quarter, but Pendleton Heights responded with nine straight points to put the game away.Kenzie Gustin hit one of her two 3-pointers during the run and finished 7-of-7 at the free-throw line en route to a game-high 19 points. Hubble and Gustin finished with eight and seven rebounds respectively.
The defeat marked the first time Jay County, which last dropped six of its last nine games after an 8-2 start, has lost three in a row since it fell to Coldwater, Anderson and Delta to close out the 2006-07 regular season. The Patriots are allowing just 37.9 points per game for the season, but have given up 50 or more to Richmond, Anderson and Pendleton Heights in the losing streak.
The 56 points for the Arabians were the most JCHS has given up in a game this season.
“We’ve been fortunate enough that our defense has held other teams in the 30s and the 20s, which has been keeping us close,” said Krieg, “but when you come up against a good team like Pendleton Heights that is going to shoot a high percentage, you can’t turn the ball over that much.”
Kassi Hemmlegarn hit a pair of 3-pointers and went 4-for-4 at the foul line to lead Jay County with 12 points. Fellow senior Mariah Hornaday added 11.
Freshman point guard Catherine Dunn missed her fourth straight game with a shoulder injury and will not play in Thursday’s regular-season finale at Delta, but is expected to return when the Patriots play host Homestead in the first round of the sectional tournament on Tuesday.
Despite the recent struggles, Krieg praised his group of five seniors that has led JCHS to its 11th straight winning season.
“My five seniors, I can not complain about them at all,” he said of Maria Murphy, LeAnn Horn, Tiffany Huelskamp, Hemmelgarn and Hornaday. “They are great, great individuals. They bring a positive attitude … I’m very, very proud of our girls.”

Junior varsity
Jay County limited the Arabians to three points in the first, third and fourth quarters as it picked up a 29-14 victory.
Bre McIntire scored 10 points to lead the Patriots, who improved to 15-4. Katlin Petro added seven points.
Haley Brown and Jordan Dean each scored four points for Pendleton Heights.[[In-content Ad]]