Caldwell, Jay trounce Tigers

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If Friday was any indication, it’s safe to say Shelby Caldwell has her groove back.

That’s not to say she’s struggling.

By her standards, though, she’s been experiencing a bit of a slump from long range.

Over a three-game stretch in December she was 0-for-8 from behind the arc.

On Tuesday, she made two triples in an upset of third-ranked Concordia.

Three days later, she was on fire.

Caldwell didn’t miss from behind the arc and finished with a career-high 33 points Friday, leading the Jay County High School girls basketball team to a 66-37 drubbing of the Bluffton Tigers.

“It was kind of shocking because every time I shot I was waiting for me to actually miss,” she said. The junior made her first eight field goals and finished 14-of-16 for her career night. “I had a lot of great passes too that allowed me to make those and get good shots. It wasn’t just all me.”

Caldwell’s 33 points puts her fifth on the school’s single-game scoring list. Shannon Freeman and Lyla Muhlenkamp share the record with 40 points, and Michelle Warwick has the next two with 35 and 34 points respectively.

“Shelby is just getting better and better every night,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer. Caldwell’s previous career best was a 24-point effort Dec. 5 against Muncie Central. “I think she’s almost back to 100 percent (from tearing her ACL four games into her sophomore year) … I think she’s feeling a lot more confident now and that she’s recovered.”

Jay County (10-6, 5-0 Allen County Athletic Conference), which clinched at least a share of the regular-season conference title ahead of the tournament that begins Tuesday at home against Southern Wells, was in complete control on both ends of the court during the first half Friday.

Bluffton (12-4, 3-2 ACAC) turned the ball over on its first possession, and Caldwell put back an offensive rebound for her first basket. Bluffton’s Jamie Myers answered at the other end, but it was all Patriots from there on out.

Caldwell made the first of her five 3-pointers from the top of the arc on a Hanna Ault assist, and after Ault blocked a shot Caldwell put back a Kendra Muhlenkamp miss to make it 7-2 JCHS.

Muhlenkamp, Caldwell and Ault each had baskets as they helped Jay County force Bluffton into making seven consecutive turnovers in the first quarter.

“I thought we got off to a good start defensively,” said Comer, whose team has won five straight games. “We turned them over and we were able to get some easy shots.”

The Patriots scored the final 17 points of the quarter, and had a 19-0 run carry over into the second for a commanding 22-2 advantage.

The second period was the best of the night offensively for both Caldwell and the rest of her team. She had three more triples, scoring half of Jay County’s 22 points as it led 41-12 at half. The Patriots got most of their points off the dozen turnovers in the first 16 minutes.

“Defense and turnovers are really big because it allows us to gain more points over them,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell’s first miss of the game came early in the third quarter. Her next shot also plunked off the rim, but she was there to grab the rebound and didn’t miss on her second attempt.

After the consecutive misses, she made her final six shots, including one more 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.

“I think it was just mental, actually,” Caldwell said of the difference in her shooting Friday as compared to the previous four games. “I missed five in one game and then the next game I was like, ‘I’m not going to make them.’”

But Comer instilled confidence in her during practice, reminding her to worry more on the next shot than the previous one.

“I just started making them again,” she said.

Muhlenkamp scored 10 points to join Caldwell in double figures, and her final bucket of the game gave Jay County a 63-30 advantage near the midway point of the fourth quarter. It was the Patriots’ biggest lead of the night. Muhlenkamp’s seven rebounds were a game high.



Junior varsity

Jay County had trouble hanging on to a double-digit lead as it eked out a 31-28 win over Bluffton.

The Patriots (13-3) led 11-2 after the first quarter and took a 17-5 advantage into halftime. Bluffton had a 15-9 advantage in the third quarter to trim the deficit to six points, 26-20, before giving Jay County a bit of a scare in the final quarter.

Pacie Denney shared the game high of eight points to lead the Patriots. Kendal Garringer and Mikele Suman notched seven points each while Grace Saxman and Aubrie Schwieterman had five and four points respectively.