Out of range

Both teams were undefeated
Both were without key starters because of injury.
Both dealt with first-half foul trouble.
But one aggressively executed its game plan while the other settled for bombing away from long distance.
Jay County High School’s girls basketball team missed 17 of its 20 3-point shots in the first half en route to shooting just 19.5 percent from long distance for the game. The Patriots still rallied late, but that effort came up short as they suffered their first loss of the season by a 57-51 score to the Winchester Golden Falcons.
"It was like we didn’t understand how to play the game. I don’t know if having Shelby (Caldwell) out tonight put us in that much disarray, but it was like we didn’t understand how to play," said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team was without the sophomore forward after she suffered a knee injury in Friday’s win over Bellmont. "We didn’t understand that the ball’s got to go to the paint and then back out before we can shoot a three. Everything was about 3-pointers, nothing to the rim.
"We tried to go to the rim a little bit in the first quarter and we got intimidated by their height. Therefore, we quit going there. And when you’re not hitting shots. It’s going to make for a long night."
The Patriots (3-1) spent a large portion of the night watching their shots, mostly from 3-point range, go everywhere but through the basket. Despite that, they trailed by just six at halftime but then turned the ball over on each of their first four second-half possessions as Winchester started on a 7-2 run.
Jay County trailed by as many as 14 before senior Taylor Homan, who picked up her second foul with 3:05 left in the opening quarter, buried triples on three consecutive trips down the floor to cut the gap to 49-45. She reached double figures for the fourth straight game as her 15 points were second on the team to Hanna Ault’s 16, but it was not enough.
The Golden Falcons (5-0) responded by hitting 8-of-10 free throws in the final 2:04 to put the game away.
"I was a little nervous having my ball handler out," said Winchester coach Holly Gutierrez, who lost point guard Hannah Graft to a broken toe in Friday’s win over Tri. "I wasn’t sure how we’d respond to the pressure. This is the first time I knew we’d truly be tested. I’m glad they did what they did, because I wanted to see if we could maintain the composure.
"We had our moments, but we figured it out and came through and got the win."
The late free throws were part of Winchester’s 22-5 scoring advantage at the foul line, which came from their consistent effort to get into the paint.
Freshman Gabbie Lawrence, who took over ball-handling duties from Graft, led the effort with 16 points. Six-foot, 3-inch, post player Kira Robinson added 11 despite spending the final 10:45 of the first half on the bench because of foul trouble.
All six Winchester players who scored had at least seven points.
"You’ve got to give them credit They were the attackers tonight," said Comer. "We were on our heels. They were on their toes a lot. It should have been the other way around, but it wasn’t."
Jay County never led, giving up the game’s first four points and trailing by six at the quarter break. Ault accounted most of its offense early as she scored 10 of her 16 points and grabbed eight of her game-high 11 rebounds in the first half.

Junior varsity
The Patriots saw their lead slip to two points with a minute to play, but they were able to hold on for a 29-24 victory.
After the Golden Falcons pulled to within 25-23, Hanna Dillon responded with a layup for Jay County. And then with 7.3 seconds left, Hannah Phillips hit a pair of free throws to put the game away.
Dillon scored six of her game-high nine points in the fourth quarter. Phillips added seven points, Sam Twigg and Claire Dirksen each had four.
Sarah Graft scored eight points for Winchester. Cami Miller followed with seven.