Jay D stifles Squaws

Fans might want to work on perfecting their De-fense chant.
Through two games, the Patriots have given them plenty of reason to use it.
The Jay County High School girls basketball team extended its scoreless streak to more than 17 minutes Friday, opening a 15-0 lead on the way to clobbering the visiting Bellmont Squaws 57-27.
The Patriots had held Monroe Central without a point in the final quarter of their season-opening win Nov. 14, and continued their run by blanking Bellmont in the first quarter Friday. The Squaws’ first points came on a Bailey Christlieb hoop at the 6:28 mark of the second quarter.
“That’s huge,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg, whose team is 2-0 for the first time in is five-year tenure. “We took them out of it right away with our defense.
“I’ve got some great ball defenders, between Catherine and Taylor and Abby and Ava … We hit them hard right away. … We kind of picked up right where we left off.”
It was Jay County’s pressure defense that had the Squaws (1-2) out of sorts.
The Patriots’ full-court attack and ball pressure resulted in five first-quarter turnovers for Bellmont. The visitors went 0-for-6 from the field while junior Abby Wendel hit all of her four field-goal attempts to score eight of the 15 first-quarter points for JCHS.
“I assumed they’d press us,” said Bellmont coach Andy Heim. “They watched us play (Bishop) Dwenger and saw that it caused us some trouble. … Pressure definitely gave us some problems.”
Jay County extended its lead to 20 points at halftime, and consecutive three-point plays from Catherine Dunn and Ava Kunkler capped an 8-0, third-quarter run that put the game out of reach. The Patriots added an 11-0 run later on the way to the 30-point victory.
Kunkler came up big for the Patriots as she recorded a double-double after being hampered by foul trouble in the season opener. She grabbed 10 rebounds — five offensive and five defensive — and tallied a game-high 14 points.
“I was very frustrated with last game,” said Kunkler. “I was hoping it would be a great game last game and it just wasn’t. I was just happy to play and actually do something for my team.”
Bre McIntire chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds as the Patriots dominated the post.
She and Kunkler each made six of their seven free-throw attempts as JCHS outscored Bellmont 17-2 at the foul line.
“It’s our fault. One, we’re short. And two, we get panicked and we chuck up shots that are not good shots,” said Heim. “We don’t use head fakes. We don’t get into the post and make a move.”
Dunn added a 5-of-7 effort at the line for the Patriots, who have hit 30 free throws in the first two games of the season.
“That’s been one of our problems since I’ve been the girls basketball coach. We’ve been a 55-, 65-percent shooting team,” said Krieg. “The first two games here we’re (79 percent) from the foul line. What makes it great is my two post players are very good free-throw shooters.”
McIntire also grabbed seven rebounds, and Taylor Homan finished with five. Wendel had three assists to go along with her eight points.
Ten different players scored for JCHS, as Krieg was able to get everyone on the varsity roster in the game.
“These are great games for girls to get their feet wet,” he said. “That’s what this part of the season is for, to find out who can do what, who can fill the roles when I need them. … My bench is coming around. I was pleased with them more so tonight than I was against Monroe Central.”
Christlieb was the lone Bellmont player to reach double figures as she hit a couple of 3-pointers and scored 10 points. Emily Fuelling followed with eight points, Madison Macklin grabbed five rebounds and Amberly Gutierrez had three assists.

Junior varsity
Jay County used a big second quarter to pull away from the Squaws and rolled to a 34-19 victory.
The Patriots (2-0) had a four-point lead after the opening period before dominating the second. They outscored Bellmont 15-4 over the next six minutes for a 21-6 halftime lead.
Britlyn Dues scored eight of her game-high 13 points for JCHS in the first half. Brianna Muhlenkamp added eight points, and Audrey Shreve scored six.
Madison Macklin finished with seven points to lead the Squaws.