January 12, 2019 at 6:35 a.m.
Patriots punch ticket to final
Jay Co. needs overtime to fend off Bluffton’s upset bid
Patriots punch ticket to final
The Patriots were in an unfamiliar spot.
They were trailing a conference opponent late in the game.
After forcing overtime, they were again behind on the scoreboard in the extra period.
Kendra Muhlenkamp stepped in front of a Tiger pass for a steal, went the length of the court for a layup and a one-point Patriot advantage with 1:51 to play.
They remained ahead the rest of the way.
Muhlenkamp’s basket began a stretch of eight straight Patriot points in overtime as the Jay County High School girls basketball team had to come from behind twice to beat the Bluffton Tigers in the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament semifinal it hosted on Friday.
“They were much more prepared and had done a really good job,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team will play for the tournament championship for the fifth consecutive year as it squares off against the Heritage Patriots at approximately 8 p.m. tonight at the South Adams Stardome in Berne. Heritage defeated South Adams 49-27 on Friday in Monroeville.
“They gave us everything we could handle,” Comer added. “Luckily we were able to get it to overtime. We won the last four minutes. Other than that I’m not sure we won too much.”
Bluffton (8-9) had lost to the Patriots (11-7) by 19 seven days earlier, and spent the last week focusing on their defense.
“We worked on ourselves and building our confidence, playing together and we did that tonight,” Bluffton coach Karl Grau said. “Couldn’t be more proud of our group of girls.
“That was a great high school game. It’s one of those things where it came down to a play or two. We were right there the whole time.”
One of those plays was at a critical moment in the fourth quarter. Hanna Dillon of Jay County fouled Bluffton’s Emme Boots with 32.8 seconds remaining and the Tigers, who were ahead 54-52, in the bonus.
Boots stepped to the free-throw line, presumably to shoot two as she appeared to be in the act of shooting when Dillon picked up her fifth foul. She missed the first attempt and Jay County hauled down the rebound. Thinking Boots should have another free throw, the Tigers were late at getting back on defense and Hannah Phillips swished a go-ahead 3-pointer with 22 seconds remaining. At the other end, Hallie Fields came up with a big block with 12 seconds left.
They were trailing a conference opponent late in the game.
After forcing overtime, they were again behind on the scoreboard in the extra period.
Kendra Muhlenkamp stepped in front of a Tiger pass for a steal, went the length of the court for a layup and a one-point Patriot advantage with 1:51 to play.
They remained ahead the rest of the way.
Muhlenkamp’s basket began a stretch of eight straight Patriot points in overtime as the Jay County High School girls basketball team had to come from behind twice to beat the Bluffton Tigers in the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament semifinal it hosted on Friday.
“They were much more prepared and had done a really good job,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team will play for the tournament championship for the fifth consecutive year as it squares off against the Heritage Patriots at approximately 8 p.m. tonight at the South Adams Stardome in Berne. Heritage defeated South Adams 49-27 on Friday in Monroeville.
“They gave us everything we could handle,” Comer added. “Luckily we were able to get it to overtime. We won the last four minutes. Other than that I’m not sure we won too much.”
Bluffton (8-9) had lost to the Patriots (11-7) by 19 seven days earlier, and spent the last week focusing on their defense.
“We worked on ourselves and building our confidence, playing together and we did that tonight,” Bluffton coach Karl Grau said. “Couldn’t be more proud of our group of girls.
“That was a great high school game. It’s one of those things where it came down to a play or two. We were right there the whole time.”
One of those plays was at a critical moment in the fourth quarter. Hanna Dillon of Jay County fouled Bluffton’s Emme Boots with 32.8 seconds remaining and the Tigers, who were ahead 54-52, in the bonus.
Boots stepped to the free-throw line, presumably to shoot two as she appeared to be in the act of shooting when Dillon picked up her fifth foul. She missed the first attempt and Jay County hauled down the rebound. Thinking Boots should have another free throw, the Tigers were late at getting back on defense and Hannah Phillips swished a go-ahead 3-pointer with 22 seconds remaining. At the other end, Hallie Fields came up with a big block with 12 seconds left.
With play stopped, the officials conferred for quite some time to discuss if, in fact, Boots should have shot a second free throw. After a couple minutes, including a discussion with Comer, Grau and the athletics directors of both schools, the play stood.
On the ensuing inbound, Fields fouled Allison Powers for the Patriots’ 10th infraction of the second half.
Powers missed the front end but made the second to tie the game with 8.4 ticks to go.
Jay County’s Shelby Caldwell, who led all players with 17 points and moved into a tie for fourth place with Dee Dee Harriet on the Patriots’ career points list, had her potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer go around the rim and bounce to the floor.
“I think the kids never quit,” Comer said. Jay County trailed by as many as seven points with 3:46 to play. “We got some turnovers when we needed them there.”
Fields, who finished with 13 points and shared the team-high of seven rebounds with Caldwell, made a pair of free-throws to begin overtime before three points the hard way from Boots put Bluffton back on top, 58-57.
Boots, a sophomore, tallied 13 points to finish three behind her junior teammate Olivia King.
From there, four Muhlenkamp free throws and two by Caldwell sealed the semifinal victory. Muhlenkamp totaled 16 points, and Phillips finished with a dozen to give the Patriots four players in double figures.
“Our biggest thing is mental and we weren’t mentally prepared as we should have been,” Comer said. “We’ve got to be better than that.”
Jay County had to fight tooth-and-nail in the early going on Tuesday in what ended up as a blowout of Adams Central in the tournament opener, but Friday was the polar opposite. Midway through the opening period it led 15-4, thanks in part to seven points from Caldwell.
Bluffton trailed 22-16 with 3:11 left in the half before scoring nine of the next 11 points to take its first lead of the game. The Tigers went into intermission down by two, but then led again 30-27 thanks to a basket and a foul shot from Boots and an Alyssa Burchett layup to start the third quarter.
“Early on we were a little jumpy,” Grau said. “Then we just slowly chipped our way back by being patient. You can’t score all those points back in one possession, so you have to go possession by possession and just grind it out.
“That’s what the girls did and I was proud of them.”
On the ensuing inbound, Fields fouled Allison Powers for the Patriots’ 10th infraction of the second half.
Powers missed the front end but made the second to tie the game with 8.4 ticks to go.
Jay County’s Shelby Caldwell, who led all players with 17 points and moved into a tie for fourth place with Dee Dee Harriet on the Patriots’ career points list, had her potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer go around the rim and bounce to the floor.
“I think the kids never quit,” Comer said. Jay County trailed by as many as seven points with 3:46 to play. “We got some turnovers when we needed them there.”
Fields, who finished with 13 points and shared the team-high of seven rebounds with Caldwell, made a pair of free-throws to begin overtime before three points the hard way from Boots put Bluffton back on top, 58-57.
Boots, a sophomore, tallied 13 points to finish three behind her junior teammate Olivia King.
From there, four Muhlenkamp free throws and two by Caldwell sealed the semifinal victory. Muhlenkamp totaled 16 points, and Phillips finished with a dozen to give the Patriots four players in double figures.
“Our biggest thing is mental and we weren’t mentally prepared as we should have been,” Comer said. “We’ve got to be better than that.”
Jay County had to fight tooth-and-nail in the early going on Tuesday in what ended up as a blowout of Adams Central in the tournament opener, but Friday was the polar opposite. Midway through the opening period it led 15-4, thanks in part to seven points from Caldwell.
Bluffton trailed 22-16 with 3:11 left in the half before scoring nine of the next 11 points to take its first lead of the game. The Tigers went into intermission down by two, but then led again 30-27 thanks to a basket and a foul shot from Boots and an Alyssa Burchett layup to start the third quarter.
“Early on we were a little jumpy,” Grau said. “Then we just slowly chipped our way back by being patient. You can’t score all those points back in one possession, so you have to go possession by possession and just grind it out.
“That’s what the girls did and I was proud of them.”
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