Seniors, bench boost Patriots

Despite grabbing an early 5-2 lead, the Indians had trouble finding an offensive rhythm.
Jay County made them pay.
Taking advantage of six Fort Recovery turnovers in the first six minutes, the host Patriots used a 15-2 run that bridged the quarter break to build a 10-point lead. The advantage never grew to more than 11 and the Tribe made a late run, but it was not enough.
The JCHS girls basketball team, riding the early spurt, its deep bench and some gutty senior leadership, held off the Indians for a 56-51 win Saturday.
“I thought it was a great team effort,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, who got points from every player he sent onto the floor. “I thought everybody that went in the game tonight helped us win. And that’s what we need.
“Going in, I thought we were the deeper team. I thought the difference could be our depth. And I think it was.”
The late surge was a positive for FRHS, coach Brian Patch said, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the slow start.
“When you’re playing good teams, you can’t put yourselves in a hole,” said Patch, a Jay County High School graduate. “And we put ourselves in a hole. And then at that point it’s hard to come back … especially with Wendel as good as she is. She’s going to be able to carry them and get them buckets they need at the end.”
It was Wendel — using a spin move along the right baseline to get past two defenders for a three-point play — who capped a 10-3 run that pushed the Patriots’ lead to 11 with less than three minutes to play.
Fort Recovery (7-2), which had won seven in a row since its season-opening loss to Wapakoneta, rallied back with a Grace Thien 3-pointer in the final minute. After a rare Wendel missed free throw — she leads the team at 81 percent this season — Carley Stone drove the left side of the lane and was fouled while hitting her layup. Stone missed the ensuing free throw, but 6-foot-2-inch senior Kendra Siefring snagged the offensive rebound and scored for a four-point play that pulled the Indians to within 51-49.
Taylor Homan and Whitney Will traded free throws, and then Wendel hit two more to extend the home team’s lead to four with 10.2 seconds to play. The Indians still had an opportunity, but a turnover as they hurried down the floor sealed the win for Jay County.
Though the giveaway in the closing seconds was important, Fort Recovery’s 10 in the first half were what forced them to play catch-up the entire game.
“That’s just the mental part,” said Patch, who got 16 and 15 points respectively from Thien and Siefring. “We weren’t being pressured at all. But mentally we made some silly, costly errors in the first quarter and the first half that we cleaned up in the second.”
Wendel, despite shooting 33 percent from the field, shared the game high of 16 points with Thien. She also led the Patriots in both rebounds (six) and assists (five), and limited the effectiveness of Fort Recovery’s full-court pressure in the fourth quarter.
She got help across the board as nine different JCHS players scored. Hanna Ault had nine points and two assists, and Ava Kunkler notched eight points and four rebounds.
Shelby Caldwell, who hit a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, and Taylor Homan each added five points. Kyndal Miller, who scored twice while cutting to the basket as defenders rushed to double-team Wendel, and Britlyn Dues each finished 2-for-2 from the field.
“Kyndal looked for the roll whenever I drove to the basket,” said Wendel. “She stepped up big and finished. …
“We have a really good bench. They really come in strong and just play hard. I don’t think they focus too much on how many minutes they get, but more on how they want to help the team, and that’s definitely important for us.”

Junior varsity
Jay County dominated the opening quarter and carried that momentum for a 38-24 win over the Indians.
The Patriots, who stayed unbeaten at 14-0, limited Fort Recovery (2-6) to two first-quarter points for a 10-point lead. They extended the advantage to 22-7 at the half.
Hannah Phillips led a balanced scoring effort for JCHS with eight points. Briana Muhlenkamp was right behind her with seven points, and Kendra Muhlenkamp and Hanna Dillon added six points apiece.
Chloe Metzger scored more than half of the Indians’ points, finishing with a game-high 13. Brooke Gaerke followed with four points.