Tigers trapped

In the full court, the Patriots trapped.
In the half court, the Patriots trapped.
For most of the first quarter, Jay County High School’s girls basketball team caught the visiting Bluffton Tigers in the corners and on the sidelines. The result was a flurry of turnovers that led to a 14-point opening run en route to a 64-27 victory and commanding control of the Allen County Athletic Conference.
“We obviously got off to a good start,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team is now 5-0 in the conference with those wins coming by an average of 20.8 points. “Our defense was good, dictating (tempo) and getting our offense going.
“We were able to close our traps, both on the full court and the half. We got in the passing lanes well tonight. We were able to get some easy baskets early and that got us off to a good start.”
The Patriots (13-3), who are one win away from defending their regular-season ACAC title with a game against Southern Wells (3-12) remaining, wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as Abby Wendel recorded a hoop off of the opening tip. Two Bluffton turnovers and two Wendel assists — one to Hanna Ault and another to Taylor Homan — later, the Tigers called timeout facing a 6-0 deficit just a minute into the game.
After nearly two minutes of scoreless basketball, Lyla Muhlenkamp buried her 42nd 3-pointer of the season for a 9-0 lead that triggered another timeout from BHS coach Kari Grau. But it didn’t slow down the home team, as Wendel came up with a steal that led to a three-point play and Shelby Caldwell scored off of a Wendel assist to make it 14-0.
The Tigers (6-11, 3-2 ACAC) finally got on the scoreboard on a hoop by Gabrielle Steveler with 3:14 on the clock after opening the game 0-for-3 with four turnovers.
“They came after us and we struggled to handle it,” said Grau. “It’s a situation where we’ve just got to keep working to get better.
“I wanted them to execute, to be in the right spots. We weren’t even in the right spots. And when you get to the right spots, better things happen. …
“But their size and length is very hard to see around. They’re a lot bigger and quicker than we are, and that’s tough. But you’ve still got to be tougher and handle the ball.”
Bluffton was never able to make a run at the Patriots, who led 22-4 after eight minutes and then scored the first eight points of the second quarter. The visitors never tallied more than four consecutive points.
Jay County shot 56 percent for the game, including a blistering 71 percent (10-of-14) in the opening period. Caldwell led the scoring effort with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and Wendel made all of her shots — five field goals and a free throw — to join the freshman in double figures with 11 points.
“It was good to see (Caldwell) get more in the scoring column,” said Comer. “And I thought she did a better job defensively and boxing out underneath. It was just a good all-around game for her tonight.”
Wendel also had a game-high five assists, and Hanna Ault chipped in seven points.
The Patriots went heavily to their bench in the second half and got some strong performances, including seven rebounds from Britlyn Dues. She matched senior Ava Kunkler for the team high.
And after missing one in the opening half, Audrey Shreve hit a pair of second-half triples on the way to an eight-point effort. Freshman Kendra Muhlenkamp came off the bench to record three assists.
“They’re the best team we’ve played for sure,” said Grau, whose squad could meet the Patriots again in the semifinal round of next week’s ACAC tournament. “They’re a very, very good basketball team. They’re well-coached and well-disciplined and they have very, very good players.”
Jay County opens ACAC tournament play at home at 6 p.m. Tuesday against South Adams.
Zoey Smith led Bluffton with nine points, seven of which came at the free-throw line.
Junior varsity
Much like their varsity counterparts, the Patriots blitzed Bluffton early as they stayed perfect with a 30-15 victory.
Jay County (16-0) held the Tigers without a field goal in the first quarter to build an 18-1 lead. It then limited the visitors to two points in the second.
Sam Twigg and Hanna Dillion shared the team high of six points for the Patriots, each scoring four in the opening period. Audrey Shreve added five points.