Defensive effort carries Jay

In season openers, often the offense isn’t quite as sharp as it could be.
When the shots aren’t falling, it’s effort, specifically on the defensive end of the floor, that can bridge the gap. And the Patriots had more than enough grit and hustle to put their first game in the win column.
Jay County High School’s girls basketball team used a physical, aggressive style to limit the visiting Monroe Central Golden Bears to just 23 percent shooting en route to a 50-27 victory Thursday.
“It was kind of a typical first game,” said Patriot senior guard Taylor Homan. “We made a lot of mistakes, but that’s expected. It’ll get better as the games go on.
“Our defense and rebounding really saved us.”
“For the first night, I thought defensively we played pretty well,” added JCHS coach Kirk Comer. “I thought offensively we were a little behind, but that’s expected. Overall, I thought our effort was really good for the first night. I thought the kids played hard. I was really proud of their effort.”
That effort was key to the Patriots (1-0) taking control early in the second quarter after leading by just one after eight minutes. They started trapping the ball in their half-court defense, taking Monroe Central out of its designed offense and forcing turnovers in the process.
The result was a Golden Bear scoreless stretch of 5 minutes, 36 seconds, during which the home team extended its lead to double figures.
Shelby Caldwell scored five points during that run, including a put-back bucket, and Briana Muhlenkamp scored off of a fast-break assist from her sister Emily. Monroe Central coach Leigh Ann Barga called a timeout in an effort to compose her team, only to have Homan hit a hoop before Abigail McGrath finally got the Golden Bears on the board at the 3:39 mark.
Jay County held the visitors to 3-of-15 shooting in the second quarter as it extended to a 26-14 halftime lead. It went on to score the first five points of the third quarter and never let the lead slip to fewer than 14 points the rest of the way.
“Jay County’s physical,” said Barga, whose team opened the season Tuesday with a 55-20 blowout of Cowan. “They push the ball up the floor. They did really good things tonight.
“The first half, I thought we played, not bad. But we really didn’t take the ball strong to the hole. We got some passes inside and we couldn’t finish.
“The second half, we just got outplayed.”
Briana Muhlenkamp was key in leading the Patriots’ defensive effort as she disrupted Monroe Central’s offense with her on-the-ball pressure, often getting deflections to create opportunities for turnovers and fast breaks.
She came off the bench to grab a game-high eight rebounds while also chipping in with four points.
“I thought she was huge,” said Comer. “I think she had a great game.
“I’ve been hearing from the time I got here how good a player she was. And I’ve seen it in practice. I’ve seen it in the summer, and just not consistent during the games. I thought tonight was the best I’ve seen her play. I think she’s just going to continue to get better and better.”
Caldwell followed Homan with 12 points, nine of which came in the first half, while adding seven rebounds and three blocks.
Junior Hanna Ault facilitated the offense, dishing out six assists.
Kinzie Williams’ seven points led the way for the Golden Bears, who shot 11-of-47 from the field including 4-of-21 (19 percent) in the second half.

Junior varsity
Jay County kept slipping behind the Golden Bears during regulation, but took control early in the extra session of its 33-30 overtime win.
The Patriots (1-0) trailed early in the second, third and fourth quarters, but when the game went into overtime they struck first. Hanna Dillon’s layup off of a drive and bounce pass from Hannah Phillips put them on top 20 seconds into the extra period and they never trailed again.
Dillon scored five of her game-high nine points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Phillips added eight points, and Sam Twigg scored six.
Mabrey Buis finished with eight points for Monroe Central, and Gabby Beckham followed with six.