Defense smothers Jets in blowout

Patriot basket.

Jet turnover.

Patriot 3-pointer.

Jet turnover.

Patriot fast-break bucket.

Jet turnover.

Patriot basket.

Timeout Jets.

That’s a snapshot of the first 84 seconds Friday night, as the Jay County High School girls basketball team used a quick start on both ends of the court on its way to a 59-31 drubbing of the Adams Central Flying Jets.

“That is the third game in a row we’ve come out and played with a lot of intensity,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team won its 10th consecutive regular-season game against Allen County Athletic Conference opponents.

“We created the tempo, which we needed to do,” Comer added. “It helps when you make some shots. Our confidence grows from there and I thought the start was about as good as we could expect.”

Jay County (4-6, 2-0 ACAC) scored on six of its first seven possessions, including nine straight points off Adams Central turnovers that prompted Jet coach Doug Curtis into using his first timeout 84 seconds into the contest.

Moments after Carly Holley got Adams Central (6-3, 2-2 ACAC) on the board with a pair of free throws, Kendra Muhlenkamp hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 12-2. Then, after yet another Jet turnover, Muhlenkamp tallied her eighth and final point on a fast break at the other end.

Most of Adams Central’s turnovers were because the Patriots played with their forwards — 5-foot, 10-inch senior Shelby Caldwell and 5-foot, 11-inch freshman Madison Dirksen — near the perimeter. The passes from the Jet guards were off target in an attempt to get around the length of Caldwell and Dirksen, and the Patriots got easy steals.

“That’s my favorite defense,” said Caldwell, who finished with a game-high 20 points. “It’s hard to throw it over someone that’s tall. Me being up there made it easier for my girls to steal the ball and we just did it over and over again.

“We tried to get the intensity to us with that defense and I just loved it.”

Adams Central had as many turnovers as it had points.

Hannah Phillips and Hanna Dillon joined Caldwell in double figures with 11 apiece, with the former doing all of her damage in the first half. She made three shots from beyond the arc — two in the first quarter and the first basket of the second that gave Jay County a 25-10 lead.

Dillon also hit a trio of 3-pointers, two in the second half, as she scored all but three of her points after intermission.

“We had three girls in double figures tonight, almost four, and that shows how we’re sharing the ball,” Comer said. The Patriots finished with assists on 10 of their 24 field goals.

After taking a 33-18 advantage into halftime, Jay County outscored Adams Central 19-6 in the third period. Hallie Fields, who shared the game high of eight rebounds with Caldwell, scored her five points to start the third quarter, and Caldwell later had seven straight for the Patriots.

Midway through the fourth, Jay County was out front 57-24, its biggest lead of the night.

Holley led Adams Central with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting and a 6-for-8 effort from the free-throw line.

Junior varsity

Aubrie Schwieterman and Pacie Denney both reached double figures as Jay County knocked off Adams Central, 36-26.

The Patriots (5-5) had a five-point lead after one quarter but saw it shrink to just two, 15-13, at half. A 15-6 advantage in the third quarter made it 30-19 before Adams Central got one point back in the final seven minutes.

Schwieterman and Denney had 10 points each, as Schwieterman totaled eight alone in the third quarter. Denney made three 3-pointers and split a pair of free throws. Macey Weitzel followed with eight points and Grace Saxman chipped in five.