Jay rallies, hangs on

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MONROEVILLE — Hanna Ault spent most of her time on the bench.

With two quick fouls in the first quarter, she sat out while her team fell behind.

After picking up two more fouls in the third quarter, she was once again relegated to the sideline.

But when she returned to action, she made the most of her time.

Ault swished a go-ahead 3-pointer late in the third quarter and made all four of her free throws in the final minute of the game on Thursday as the Jay County High School girls basketball team rallied in the second half and hung on for a 45-42 win over the host Heritage Patriots.

“She’s a leader,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team improves to 7-6 (3-0 Allen County Athletic Conference. “We wanted the ball in her hands or in (Shelby Caldwell’s) at the end. She’s going to step up (to the free-throw line) with confidence.

“She could have been out of the game mentally tonight because she wasn’t on the floor much with fouls, but she wasn’t and when we needed her she stepped in there, she did what she had to do to help her team win.”

It is the first time this season Jay County is above .500, and it can build on the mark as it hosts South Adams at noon on Saturday.

The biggest challenge for Ault in the second half was to continue to play aggressively but not pick up her fifth foul.

“You just have to keep pushing through it, try to play clean,” she said. Ault had 11 points, all of which after halftime. “Still got to play as hard as you can.”

While Kendra Muhlenkamp and Ault were on the bench in the first half, Heritage (6-7, 1-2 ACAC) built an 18-11 lead in the first quarter and were out front by as many as nine, 20-11, early in the second quarter.

But the visiting Patriots, who clawed back to make it 22-17 at intermission, used an 11-0 run in the third quarter to take the lead.

Hannah Phillips put back an Ault miss to make it 26-21 Heritage, and then Phillips scored on a fast break following a Heritage giveaway. After yet another Heritage turnover, Caldwell made a pair of free throws as JCHS trailed by one.

Jay County’s defense forced Heritage into a 10-second violation on the ensuing possession, which resulted at an Ault 3-pointer that put the visiting Patriots out front, 30-26.

“I’m really proud with the way they came back,” Comer said. “The way our bench came in and kept us in the game, gave us a chance in the second half.

“At halftime we talked about how our defense is going to have to turn them over in order for us to have a chance.”

Heritage, which committed 14 turnovers in the second half after just four in the first 16 minutes, tied the score at 37 late in the fourth quarter but wasn’t able to retake the lead.

“We had to get stops,” Ault said. “We had to get steals, turn them over. That was a big part of it.”

And late in the fourth quarter with Jay County out front 38-37, Muhlenkamp came up with a huge steal that led to a pair of Ault charity tosses, and then grabbed another one on an inbound pass with four seconds left to seal the win.

“She’s going to make it happen,” Comer said of Muhlenkamp, who had all five of her points in the fourth quarter. “Sometimes it’s not exactly what you want and sometimes you’re saying ‘Slow down.’ But you slow her down then the good things aren’t going to happen.

“Got to take the good with the bad and there’s a lot more good than there is bad. She’s a great kid and I’m glad she’s on our side.”

Caldwell scored eight points in each half to finish with a game-high 16 points. Briana Muhlenkamp was third on the team with seven points and led the squad with five rebounds.

Bree Dossen led Heritage with 13 points, and Abby Sheehan was second on the team with a dozen points.

Sheehan did all of her damage from long range as she was 4-of-9 from behind the arc. The sophomore had three triples in the first quarter, and swished one from the left wing with 4.6 seconds left in the fourth that cut Jay County advantage to 43-42.



Junior varsity

Jay County’s defense was stellar throughout in a dominating 43-12 win over Heritage.

The visiting Patriots (11-2) held a 14-2 advantage after the first quarter and pushed the lead to 25-5 at halftime. A 16-3 edge in scoring during the third made it 41-8 with one period to play.

Aubrie Schwieterman had a game-high nine points to lead Jay County, which also got eight points from Grace Saxman. Mikele Suman, Kendal Garringer and Macey Weitzel all contributed six points, while Claire Dirksen tallied five points.

Pacie Denney completed the scoring for Jay County with three points.