November 19, 2017 at 5:02 a.m.
Second rally falls short
Patriots fall by four to undefeated Winchester
Second rally falls short
WINCHESTER — For the second time this season, the Patriots fell behind big against a Class 2A powerhouse.
For the second time, they came fighting back. They even reclaimed the advantage by halftime.
But when they fell into an eight-point deficit again, it proved to be too much.
Jay County closed to within one twice in the final 2:30 Saturday, but Winchester made enough plays down the stretch to hold on for a 59-55 victory.
“We got off to a rough start,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team was down by 10 in the first quarter just four days after falling behind by the same first-quarter margin in a 51-40 loss to Class 2A No. 1 Oak Hill. “But we kept our composure, stayed with the game plan, came back and got the lead by half.
“It was just two good teams playing hard.
“Tonight, they made a few more plays than we did.”
Composure was also at the forefront for Winchester coach Holly Gutierrez, whose squad features just one senior. Saturday night was the first big test for her Golden Falcons, who had won their first five games by an average of 29.8 points.
“Maintaining composure was big for us because we were very young last year and there were a lot of times we lost games because we couldn’t hang mentally,” said Gutierrez. “I thought tonight was a good test for us to see if we could hang in there as we went through the third and fourth quarter close.”
Winchester was up by eight with less than four minutes to play before the Patriots (2-2) scored seven in a row capped by a Hanna Ault 3-pointer from the right wing to close to within 54-53 with 2:07 to go. The margin was one again — 56-55 — in the final minute when the Golden Falcons called timeout with 19.7 seconds left.
The home team ran off another 10.4 seconds — Jay County was trying to get the ball out of point guard Madeline Lawrence’s hands — before calling timeout again. Finally, the Patriots were forced to foul Lawrence with 7.8 seconds to go.
She split her free throws, and Kendra Muhlenkamp pushed the ball down the floor as JCHS looked for the tying or go-ahead shot. Muhlenkamp attacked the right side and then flipped the ball back to Ault, whose 3-point try from the right wing went in and out. But even had it gone in it would have been a moot point, as Muhlenkamp was called for an offensive foul for using her forearm to clear out Hannah Graft on the play.
Lawrence hit a couple of final free throws with 1.2 seconds to play — the Golden Falcons outscored the visitors 13-3 at the line — to finish off her 18-point, eight-assist effort. She was second in scoring only to teammate Becca Chamberlain, who totaled 21 points.
Chamberlain got hot early, scoring nine of Winchester’s points during its 12-0 run in the first quarter. The Patriots fought back and scored the final seven points of the first half, including a Hanna Dillon 3-pointer off a Muhlenkamp inbound pass with 34 seconds left, to go up 29-28 at halftime. But the Golden Falcons took the lead for good on the last of Chamberlain’s four 3-pointers 1:24 into the second half.
Shelby Caldwell and Ault shared the team high of 13 points for Jay County, and Gwen Omstead and Muhlenkamp added 11 each. Omstead snagged 12 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end, and Caldwell had seven boards and three assists.
Both losses for the Patriots (2-2) have come against undefeated squads, as Oak Hill and Winchester are a combined 11-0.
“Win or lose, these games make us better,” said Comer. “Our schedule is so tough that we’re going to have to come out every night and play at our highest level to have a chance. That’s a good thing, because that’s what we’re going to have to do in the tournament. …
“I’m proud of our kids. This team’s got so much room to grow. They’ve got so much to learn. I’m really excited.
Junior varsity
Jay County saw its lead slip to a single point with 7.5 seconds left, but Mikele Suman and Aubrie Schwieterman each managed to get a free throw to fall in the waning moments to preserve a 34-31 victory over the Golden Falcons.
The Patriots were up by six at the half before the lead dwindled to 32-31 when Brooklyn Hummel hit a pair of foul shots late. But after Suman split her free throws with 4.2 seconds to go, Schwieterman came up with a steal and then split a pair of her own for the three-point final margin.
Schwieterman scored eight of her team-high 10 points for the Patriots in the first half. Grace Saxman added eight points and Kendal Garringer had five as JCHS won despite shooting 3-of-13 from the line in the fourth quarter.
Cami Miller totaled 12 points to lead Winchester.
For the second time, they came fighting back. They even reclaimed the advantage by halftime.
But when they fell into an eight-point deficit again, it proved to be too much.
Jay County closed to within one twice in the final 2:30 Saturday, but Winchester made enough plays down the stretch to hold on for a 59-55 victory.
“We got off to a rough start,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team was down by 10 in the first quarter just four days after falling behind by the same first-quarter margin in a 51-40 loss to Class 2A No. 1 Oak Hill. “But we kept our composure, stayed with the game plan, came back and got the lead by half.
“It was just two good teams playing hard.
“Tonight, they made a few more plays than we did.”
Composure was also at the forefront for Winchester coach Holly Gutierrez, whose squad features just one senior. Saturday night was the first big test for her Golden Falcons, who had won their first five games by an average of 29.8 points.
“Maintaining composure was big for us because we were very young last year and there were a lot of times we lost games because we couldn’t hang mentally,” said Gutierrez. “I thought tonight was a good test for us to see if we could hang in there as we went through the third and fourth quarter close.”
Winchester was up by eight with less than four minutes to play before the Patriots (2-2) scored seven in a row capped by a Hanna Ault 3-pointer from the right wing to close to within 54-53 with 2:07 to go. The margin was one again — 56-55 — in the final minute when the Golden Falcons called timeout with 19.7 seconds left.
The home team ran off another 10.4 seconds — Jay County was trying to get the ball out of point guard Madeline Lawrence’s hands — before calling timeout again. Finally, the Patriots were forced to foul Lawrence with 7.8 seconds to go.
She split her free throws, and Kendra Muhlenkamp pushed the ball down the floor as JCHS looked for the tying or go-ahead shot. Muhlenkamp attacked the right side and then flipped the ball back to Ault, whose 3-point try from the right wing went in and out. But even had it gone in it would have been a moot point, as Muhlenkamp was called for an offensive foul for using her forearm to clear out Hannah Graft on the play.
Lawrence hit a couple of final free throws with 1.2 seconds to play — the Golden Falcons outscored the visitors 13-3 at the line — to finish off her 18-point, eight-assist effort. She was second in scoring only to teammate Becca Chamberlain, who totaled 21 points.
Chamberlain got hot early, scoring nine of Winchester’s points during its 12-0 run in the first quarter. The Patriots fought back and scored the final seven points of the first half, including a Hanna Dillon 3-pointer off a Muhlenkamp inbound pass with 34 seconds left, to go up 29-28 at halftime. But the Golden Falcons took the lead for good on the last of Chamberlain’s four 3-pointers 1:24 into the second half.
Shelby Caldwell and Ault shared the team high of 13 points for Jay County, and Gwen Omstead and Muhlenkamp added 11 each. Omstead snagged 12 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end, and Caldwell had seven boards and three assists.
Both losses for the Patriots (2-2) have come against undefeated squads, as Oak Hill and Winchester are a combined 11-0.
“Win or lose, these games make us better,” said Comer. “Our schedule is so tough that we’re going to have to come out every night and play at our highest level to have a chance. That’s a good thing, because that’s what we’re going to have to do in the tournament. …
“I’m proud of our kids. This team’s got so much room to grow. They’ve got so much to learn. I’m really excited.
Junior varsity
Jay County saw its lead slip to a single point with 7.5 seconds left, but Mikele Suman and Aubrie Schwieterman each managed to get a free throw to fall in the waning moments to preserve a 34-31 victory over the Golden Falcons.
The Patriots were up by six at the half before the lead dwindled to 32-31 when Brooklyn Hummel hit a pair of foul shots late. But after Suman split her free throws with 4.2 seconds to go, Schwieterman came up with a steal and then split a pair of her own for the three-point final margin.
Schwieterman scored eight of her team-high 10 points for the Patriots in the first half. Grace Saxman added eight points and Kendal Garringer had five as JCHS won despite shooting 3-of-13 from the line in the fourth quarter.
Cami Miller totaled 12 points to lead Winchester.
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