Spartans trap Jay

FORT WAYNE — The Spartans are known for having one of the highest-scoring offenses in the state.
Their defense was just as troublesome for Jay County.
The Patriots struggled to hold on to the ball against Homestead’s three-quarter and half-court traps in the first half Tuesday as they dropped their tournament opener 80-36 to the host Homestead Spartans in Class 4A Sectional 6.
“I felt like they were the best all-around team we’ve seen all year,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg of the Spartans, who advance to play Huntington North (5-15) in Friday’s semifinal round. “They shoot the basketball so well.
“They’re just so fundamentally sound and skilled. And they’ve very, very unselfish.”
Fort Wayne South Side won the other opening-round game Tuesday, 61-30 over Wayne. It will play New Haven (2-18) in the other semifinal game on Friday.
Jay County (8-13) scored the first points Tuesday of the game on a couple of free throws by Catherine Dunn, but it didn’t take long for the Spartans (20-3) to take control.
Josie Fisher hit the first of her four 3-pointers to give Homestead the lead for good at the 6:36 mark of the first quarter. And then the defense set the tone for the Spartans as their trap forced five consecutive turnovers to spark a 9-0 run that pushed the advantage to double figures.
The Patriots had nine turnovers in the opening period and 15 at the intermission before Homestead backed off the pressure in the second half.
“We know that Jay County’s a very structured basketball team, very disciplined,” said Homestead coach Rod Parker, whose team started two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior. “The tempo is completely different than what we’re used to playing. So we emphasized trying to pick up the tempo of this game tonight.
“We relied on our defense to get some possessions rolling and allow us to get some easy points. That really worked out to perfection for us in the first half.”
And while JCHS focused its attention on leading scorer Sydney Buck on the other end of the floor, Fisher took over the game.
The sophomore guard had 10 points at the quarter break and scored seven in a row during the second quarter. She hit her fourth 3-pointer on a wide-open look from the left corner with 1:10 left in the first half for Homestead’s 40th point, and connected on a pair of free throws in the final minute to give the Spartans a 44-16 lead at the intermission.
Fisher shot 8-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-6 from long distance, and scored all of her game-high 22 points in the first half.
“Our goal was to limit Sydney Buck,” said Krieg. “If they were going to beat us, they had to beat us with the other girls. And boy did (Fisher) make us pay in the first half.”
Buck shot just 33 percent from the field, but still scored 15 points. Lindley Kistler and Savannah Buck also reached double figures with 13 and 10 points respectively for Homestead, which ranks fifth in the state in scoring at 68.8 points per game.
Grace German, Hannah Stine and Kistler each grabbed six rebounds to lead Homestead to a 32-15 advantage on the glass, and Savannah Buck dished out four assists.
Alex Loy hit a pair of 3-pointers as she led Jay County with 10 points. Katie Aker added eight points and a game-high eight rebounds, and Abby Wendel finished with three assists.
A streak of 11 straight winning seasons came to an end for the Patriots, who have not won a sectional game since 2008. Their last losing season came with a 9-12 record in 2000-01.
Jay County was plagued by injury and illness all year, playing without junior Katlin Petro for 10 games because of an illness and then surgery. It  lost sophomore Catherine Dunn for three games because of a knee injury, and sophomore Bre McIntire missed the final six games after suffering a torn ACL against Connersville on Jan. 12.
“I’m proud of our girls,” said Krieg of the effort this season from his team, which did not have any seniors. “One thing that’s always there every night is our effort. We’re going to play hard.”[[In-content Ad]]