Jay perfect in 4th for win

Talk about all-or-nothing.
The Patriots were the “all” in the fourth quarter Friday, going 9-for-9 from the field.
Monroe Central, meanwhile, had nothing — no points in the final eight minutes.
What was a close game much of the way turned into a blowout as the Jay County High School girls basketball team closed with 19 unanswered points for a 54-28 victory over the visiting Golden Bears in the season opener for both teams.
“We just really started looking for our open people more, moving the ball around and slowing down and taking our time,” said senior Bre McIntire, who shared the game high of 13 points with teammates Catherine Dunn and Abby Wendel. “In the first and second quarter we were taking a lot of threes and then they weren’t falling. We didn’t hardly have anything in the paint at all.
“I think the fourth quarter is definitely where we’re capable of playing at.”
The Patriots were up by just one before Taylor Homan hit a 3-pointer in the closing moments of the first half, and their lead was seven at the end of the third quarter. But they caught fire in the fourth.
Dunn scored the first seven JCHS points of the period, the final three of which came on a layup off an assist from Wendel followed with a free throw.

McIntire, Wendel and Homan, who finished with nine points, handled the rest as the Patriots were perfect from the field after shooting 9-of-31 in the first three periods.
“The fourth quarter was a huge quarter for us,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg. “We shot 9-for-9, and it was all in the paint.
“We’ve got to pound the ball inside, and we didn’t do that through three quarters. And then in the fourth quarter we finally started pounding it and attacking and getting to the paint. And look where it got us.”
Jay County was also able to get some easy baskets thanks to its full- and half-court pressure defense.
The Golden Bears turned the ball over six times in the final period.
“I definitely think it sped them up and made them think about their decisions and where they were going to pass the ball,” said McIntire. “And then I think it started getting in their heads a little bit.”
The Patriots, who never trailed, got off to a quick start, building an 11-1 lead before Emmarae Roberts hit Monroe Central’s first field goal at the 2:56 mark of the first quarter. The Golden Bears used a 10-1 run in the second quarter to close to within a point before Homan buried her 3-pointer from the left side for a 26-22 JCHS lead at the half.
In addition to field-goal perfection in the final period, strong free-throw shooting buoyed the home team throughout the game. McIntire (4-of-4), Dunn (3-of-3), Wendel (2-of-2) and Ava Kunkler (2-of-2) all went without a miss as the team finished 13-of-15 (87 percent).
Wendel had a team-high six rebounds to go along with two assists, and McIntire finished with five boards and three assists.
Freshman Abigail McGrath was the lone Monroe Central player to reach double figures with 12 points. Her sister, Mikaela, the team’s returning scoring leader, missed the game because of an ankle injury as seven of the nine Golden Bears were seeing their first varsity action.
“This was the first game for us together,” said Monroe Central coach Kirk Comer, who led the Patriots from 2004 through ’09. “They have no idea what physicality there is in varsity girls basketball. A lot of them were used to playing JV or eighth grade basketball last year. And so this experience for us was huge. It’ll help us hopefully tomorrow night (against Union).”

Junior varsity
Like their varsity counterparts, the Patriots turned in a shutout quarter on the way to a 44-15 victory.
JCHS had a five-point lead at the close of the opening period. It then blanked the Golden Bears in the second quarter for a 22-5 advantage at the half en route to the win.
Britlyn Dues set the pace for the Patriots with 11 points. Audrey Shreve hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight points, and Kyndal Miller also had eight points.
Marissa Huddleston scored six points to lead Monroe Central.