Patriots stumble in fourth

For three quarters, the Patriots were able to overcome their turnovers. In the fourth, the miscues caught up with them.
Jay County High School’s girls basketball team gave the ball away 24 times Tuesday, including seven in the final period, as it fell 51-33 to the visiting Richmond Red Devils.
“We did what we had to do for three quarters,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg. “But the bottom line is I think we wore down and we made some poor decisions under their pressure.
“You can’t beat good teams turning the ball over 24 times.”
Eleven of those turnovers came in the first half, but the Patriots (16-4) still looked as if they would head to the locker room with the lead after Abby Wendel hit a pull-up jumper with four seconds left. But Mackenzie Taylor, who will play next season at Wright State University, swished a half-court shot at the buzzer to give her team the lead for good.
Jay County stayed close for most of the third quarter — it trailed 31-29 after an Ava Kunkler triple from the top of the key at the 1:48 mark — but gave up the final four points of the period and then unraveled in the fourth.
Abby Wendel’s lay-up following a steal with about six minutes to go was the final field goal of the game for the Patriots. Paetyn Claiborne responded with a 3-pointer from the left wing, and after a Lexus Perkins hoop she buried another long-distance shot to give Richmond a 45-31 lead and put the game out of reach.
The fourth-quarter 3-pointers gave Claiborne her only points of the game.
“Those are huge, and that’s senior leadership,” said Richmond coach Casey Pohlenz. “Paetyn’s not a kid who seeks the spotlight in any way. She’d be just as happy if no one ever knew who she was, but she hustles for our team. … She hit a big shot. And then she hit another big shot. They were huge. They were backbreakers.”
In addition to the turnover issues, Jay County shot 1-of-11 from the field in the final period. Its only points other than the Wendel hoop came on free throws by Catherine Dunn with 2:01 to play.
The Red Devils (14-5) scored the game’s final six points to post the highest total JCHS has given up this season.
The Patriots had won seven straight games since giving up their previous high — 50 — in a Jan. 6 loss to Concordia.
“Jay County is such a good team. Chris does such a good job. They play their system. And we needed to get them out of their system,” said Pohlenz. “We needed to get them a little bit faster. … If you stand there, they’re going to pick you apart.
“… I didn’t want to play a half court game with them.”
Sophomore Destiny Perkins paced Richmond with 16 points, and Taylor had 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Hannah Goddard grabbed seven boards.
Wendel was the only Patriot to reach double figures as she finished with 12 points. The junior also had five rebounds.
Bre McIntire followed with six points, all in the first half, Hannah Ault had six rebounds and Taylor Homan finished with three assists.
“We battled. That’s all I can ask,” said Krieg, whose team will play Thursday at New Castle (13-5). “We’ve got a tough stretch this week, probably the two best teams we’ll see all year long in Richmond and New Castle before we play Heritage for the (Allen County Athletic Conference regular season) championship.”
Junior varsity
Jay County erased an 11-point halftime deficit to pull even, but gave up a 7-0 run to end the game in a 32-25 loss to the Red Devils.
The Patriots trailed 21-10 at halftime before holding Richmond to two points in the third quarter. They tied the game on an Emily Muhlenkamp hoop with 2:05 to go, but never scored again.
Britlyn Dues paced JCHS with nine points, and Audrey Shreve followed with eight. Briana Muhlenkamp chipped in four.
Braxtyn Hurley scored nine first-half points for the Red Devils on the way to a game-high 11. Anna Creech followed with eight points.