Jay eyes fourth ACAC crown

Without one of its key players for almost the whole season, the Patriots won the conference tournament for the third straight year.

As that player — Shelby Caldwell — is back following an ACL tear as a sophomore, the Jay County High School girls basketball team is eyeing its fourth title in a row.

But it won’t come easy.

“We have to make up for what we lost,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team opens its season with games at Guerin Catholic on Friday and home Nov. 14 against Oak Hill. “There’s going to be a lot of girls in different roles, and some girls without very much varsity experience that are going to play and fill roles.”

The Patriots, who are back in Class 3A for the first time since the 2006-07 season, lost three of their top five scorers from last year.

Taylor Homan and Britlyn Dues averaged 13.4 and 10.3 points respectively for the Jay County team that was 16-8, shared the regular season Allen County Athletic Conference championship, won the ACAC tournament title and fell in the sectional opener to eventual Class 4A state champion Homestead.

Role player Audrey Shreve (3.5 points per game) and starting point guard Emily Muhlenkamp (team-high 2.1 assists per game) are also gone.

This year’s squad is led by seniors Hanna Ault and Briana Muhlenkamp.

Ault was third on the team in scoring as a junior, having totaled 8.8 points per game. She was also the team’s leading rebounder with 5.3 boards per game, and averaged two assists per game.

Comer had one word to describe her role this year.

Leader.

“She’s had an outstanding summer,” he said. “If she continues to improve from last year to this year at the pace she has, there’s no doubt in my mind she can play at the next level.”

Ault, a forward, could become the fourth straight Jay County player to win the Hilliard Gates ACAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, following in the wake of Catherine Dunn, Abby Wendel and Homan. 

But to do that she recognizes she’ll have to be more aggressive.

“This year I’m definitely not going to play as timid as I have in previous years,” she said. “I’m going to give every game my all.”

Briana Muhlenkamp is known for her ability on the defensive side of the court, but Comer is going to look to her as more of a scoring threat this year as the team’s shooting guard. The 5-foot, 5-inch, speedster will be tasked with guarding the opponent’s best defender.

Briana’s younger sister Kendra Muhlenkamp is slated to be the team’s starting point guard in place of the eldest of the three Muhlenkamp girls, Emily.

“She has had a great summer as well,” Comer said. “She’s really maturing as a player.”

Caldwell had a strong start to her sophomore season, averaging 12.7 points per game before tearing her ACL against Bellmont in the third game of the season.

She played soccer in the fall as the team’s starting goalkeeper, but getting her confidence back on the basketball court is a work in progress.

“Obviously we’re a lot better with Shelby out there on the floor,” Comer said. “She is smart and she uses what she has very well. She’s very basketball smart as well as in the classroom.

“She’s not near back to where she was. It’s going to take time and she’s just going to have to have patience … It’s still in her mind all the time but it’s going to take time for her to realize that it’s fixed and everything is fine and she can do the things that she used to be able to do.”

Gwen Omstead, another one of the team’s seven juniors, hauled in 3.2 rebounds per game, and as the team’s post player she’ll be tasked with grabbing even more, as well as building on her 3.1 points per game from last year.

“I think Gwen has a lot more confidence inside,” Comer said.

Junior Claire Dirksen is slated to come off the bench but can also be inserted in the starting lineup depending on who the Patriots play on a given night, and Comer said she can be used as a swing player.

Hannah Phillips, Hanna Dillon and Kendal Garringer all saw limited action last season, but they will be relied upon to gain valuable experience during the early part of the year.

Jay County’s only regular-season conference loss last season was to South Adams two days before Christmas, but the Patriots got revenge a couple weeks later en route to the ACAC tournament title. The Starfires are expected to give the Patriots a run for their money yet again as they return everyone from their 2017 sectional championship team.

The Patriots and Starfires meet Dec. 16 in Portland.

As a Class 3A school, Jay County is grouped in a sectional with Delta, Burris, Yorktown, Blackford, Hamilton Heights and New Castle, which was a Class 4A sectional champion a year ago.

“Moving to (Class 3A) will definitely give us the opportunity to go farther with our season,” Ault said. The Patriots host New Castle Nov. 30 and Blackford Dec. 12, and play at Delta Jan. 18. “Our expectations are really high this year, and we as a team are going to do everything we can to exceed those expectations.”