Patriots advance, host Tigers

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MONROE – The Patriots played just about as perfectly as they could for the first three minutes.

They got to the basket easily, scored on five of their first seven possessions and forced five straight turnovers for a 10-0 lead.

But the Jets fired back over the next three minutes by going on a 9-0 run, mostly with the Patriots' leading scorer on the bench.

The rally brought on thoughts about earlier in the evening; the Jet boys taking care of business on their home floor to upset the Patriots despite a lopsided loss during the regular season.

Jay County High School's girls basketball team didn't let it happen, as a 12-0 run spanning the next two quarters gave the Patriots the cushion it needed to defeat Adams Central 56-33 on Tuesday in the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinal at The Hanger.

“I thought we came out and had a really good start, up 10-nothing,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team hosts the Bluffton Tigers approximately 7:30 p.m. Friday after the Adams Central and Bluffton boys square off at 6 p.m.

“They went on (their run),” Comer added. “We had to battle. I think our girls mentally relaxed thinking it was going to be an easy game. It wasn't that at all.”

After the quick start, Jay County senior Shelby Caldwell got whistled for a foul and Comer put her on the bench, a move he said afterward may not have been the best decision.

With Caldwell out, Carly Holley scored five straight points for Adams Central (10-8), and McKenna Deitsch added a basket to make it 10-7 and force Comer into calling a timeout with 3:08 remaining in the period.

Later in the quarter, Holley had another basket to cap the Jets' run of nine straight points.

“After seeing the boys lose a close game they should have won, we knew anyone could win on any given night,” said JCHS senior Kendra Muhlenkamp, whose 12 points were second only to Caldwell's 16. Hallie Fields chipped in 11 points. “Basically we just had to play like a team and make smart decisions throughout the whole game in order to win.”

Muhlenkamp agreed with her coach that her team has a tendency to get complacent at times when its ahead on the scoreboard. Coupled with Caldwell being off the court, it's what allowed the Jets, who lost to Jay County 59-32 on Dec. 7 in Portland, to get back in the game.

“Momentum swung to them,” she said. “I was a bit nervous but when we put extra pressure on them I thought we controlled the momentum the rest of the game.”

She's right, as Adams Central never got as close again.

Kendal Garringer sank two free throws to begin a 12-0 run by Jay County (10-7). Clare Dirksen followed with a basket on a Garringer assist and the Patriots ended the period ahead 14-9.

Caldwell followed with three free throws on four attempts, and Muhlenkamp sank a 3-pointer on a Caldwell assist with 6:23 before half. Two minutes later, Muhlenkamp returned the favor, assisting on a Caldwell basket to complete the Patriots' run and extend the lead to 22-9.

After scoring just five points in the first half, Caldwell opened up the game by making a trio of 3-pointers in the third quarter. After a basket by Madison Dirksen (eight points), Caldwell's first 3-pointer made it 32-23. Her second pushed the score to 35-23 midway through the period and her third extended the advantage to 38-24.

“It helps when you hit a shot,” Comer said of Caldwell getting into her groove. “Gives you confidence for the next one. It was big because we needed her to step up in the second half. She did that. That's the leader in her.”

With her 16 points, Caldwell moved into fifth place on the program's career-scoring list with 925 points, moving ahead of Julie Marsh's 914. DeeDee Harriet is fourth with 942 points.

Since joining the ACAC in the 2014-15 season, Jay County has played for the conference tournament title every season. It won three in a row before bowing to South Adams last year.

That setback, Muhlenkamp said, has been fueling the Patriots in this her final season.

“We lost last year because of one bad game, the most important one, which sucked,” she said. “Because we came up short last year, to win it all this year would be even more satisfying.”

Jay County first has to get through Bluffton, a team which received the bye to the semifinal. The Patriots hold the advantage, however, having beaten the Tigers 49-28 on the road five days ago.

“It's going to be different this time,” Comer said. “I think they were off the night we played them. I'd like to think it had something to do with us, but I'm expecting a totally different game come Friday night.”