January 15, 2019 at 5:36 a.m.
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Jay County girls hoops claims fourth ACAC tourney title with 44-32 win over Heritage
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Copyright 2019, The Commercial Review
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BERNE – It had been a recurring theme for Jay County during the tournament.
Against teams it beat handily during the regular season, it had trouble shaking the opponent at times.
Adams Central challenged in the quarterfinal. Bluffton put up a fight in the semifinal.
Heritage was the latest to make a run at the biggest school in the conference.
The Jay County High School girls basketball team had its double-digit lead turn into just two possessions in the fourth quarter but four seniors combined to go 8-for-10 from the free-throw line in the final three minutes for a 44-32 victory over Heritage in the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament championship at South Adams' Stardome.
It's the fourth tournament championship in five seasons for Jay County after winning three straight from 2015-17.
“I don't know what it was, we just didn't play with a lot of energy tonight,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team returns to the top of the conference after being upset by South Adams in last season's tournament final. “That's hard to say when you're playing for a championship but for somereason things just came extremely hard for us tonight.”
Jay County (12-7) led by 11 points at the start of the fourth quarter before Heritage (13-5) went on an 11-4 run to pull to within four, 34-30.
That prompted Comer to call a timeout.
“I challenged the girls when it got to four (points),” he said. “Told the seniors we're going to win or lose with them on the floor. I thought they stepped it up and did a good job.”
Shelby Caldwell, who was named Hilliard Gates Most Valuable Player, attacked the basket on the ensuing JCHS possession knowing full well her team was desperate for points.
“We needed to score at that moment so that's why I just kind of went in there and threw the ball up there (at the hoop),” said Caldwell, who finished with a game-high 19 points and moved into sole possession of fourth place on the program's career scoring list with 961 points. “I was hoping I got fouled.”
She drew contact from Taylor Zelt, put her toes to the line and sank two free throws.
Hanna Dillon followed with two freebies the next time down the court to make it 40-32, and Caldwell then split two more. Hannah Phillips made two shots from the line and Kendra Muhlenkamp had one as Heritage didn't score again.
“We did what we had to do to win,” Comer said. “We just didn't play at our highest level tonight. You have to give Heritage credit for that. They came at us.
“Just very fortunate to come away with a win. Very happy for the girls being champions of the tournament.”
Muhlenkamp finished second to Caldwell, who also had 10 rebounds, with nine points. Hallie Fields and Phillips each had five points.
Bree Dossen led Heritage with a dozen points and six rebounds.
Jay County, which hosts Class 3A No. 2 Norwell on Tuesday, scored the first seven points of the game thanks to four points fromCaldwell and a Phillips 3-pointer. Heritage pulled back within two, 13-11, early in the second before Jay County closed the half on a 10-3 swing to go out front 23-13 at intermission.
Three Dossen points and three from Navaeh Feasby pulled Heritage's deficit to six points before Caldwell drained a 3-pointer, assisted on a Madison Dirksen basket and made two free-throws to put Jay County's advantage back to double digits.
But as Heritage chipped away again to get within four late, Jay County never let the other Patriots get any closer.
“We just kept thinking that we were the better team and that we needed to step it up a little bit and play to our full potential,” Caldwell said. “We started picking it up and instead of getting down on each other like saying what we were doing wrong … we just kept thinking about the positives that we've been working on.”
And it was the seniors, those feeling responsible for the team not winning its fourth consecutive title last season, who gave the team a sense of redemption by putting the Patriots back at the top of the conference.
“These girls have won seven out of eight championships in theconference. ” Comer said. “The only loss for them was the loss for them last year. We definitely wanted that back.”
All Rights Reserved
BERNE – It had been a recurring theme for Jay County during the tournament.
Against teams it beat handily during the regular season, it had trouble shaking the opponent at times.
Adams Central challenged in the quarterfinal. Bluffton put up a fight in the semifinal.
Heritage was the latest to make a run at the biggest school in the conference.
The Jay County High School girls basketball team had its double-digit lead turn into just two possessions in the fourth quarter but four seniors combined to go 8-for-10 from the free-throw line in the final three minutes for a 44-32 victory over Heritage in the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament championship at South Adams' Stardome.
It's the fourth tournament championship in five seasons for Jay County after winning three straight from 2015-17.
“I don't know what it was, we just didn't play with a lot of energy tonight,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team returns to the top of the conference after being upset by South Adams in last season's tournament final. “That's hard to say when you're playing for a championship but for some
Jay County (12-7) led by 11 points at the start of the fourth quarter before Heritage (13-5) went on an 11-4 run to pull to within four, 34-30.
That prompted Comer to call a timeout.
“I challenged the girls when it got to four (points),” he said. “Told the seniors we're going to win or lose with them on the floor. I thought they stepped it up and did a good job.”
Shelby Caldwell, who was named Hilliard Gates Most Valuable Player, attacked the basket on the ensuing JCHS possession knowing full well her team was desperate for points.
“We needed to score at that moment so that's why I just kind of went in there and threw the ball up there (at the hoop),” said Caldwell, who finished with a game-high 19 points and moved into sole possession of fourth place on the program's career scoring list with 961 points. “I was hoping I got fouled.”
She drew contact from Taylor Zelt, put her toes to the line and sank two free throws.
Hanna Dillon followed with two freebies the next time down the court to make it 40-32, and Caldwell then split two more. Hannah Phillips made two shots from the line and Kendra Muhlenkamp had one as Heritage didn't score again.
“We did what we had to do to win,” Comer said. “We just didn't play at our highest level tonight. You have to give Heritage credit for that. They came at us.
“Just very fortunate to come away with a win. Very happy for the girls being champions of the tournament.”
Muhlenkamp finished second to Caldwell, who also had 10 rebounds, with nine points. Hallie Fields and Phillips each had five points.
Bree Dossen led Heritage with a dozen points and six rebounds.
Jay County, which hosts Class 3A No. 2 Norwell on Tuesday, scored the first seven points of the game thanks to four points fromCaldwell and a Phillips 3-pointer. Heritage pulled back within two, 13-11, early in the second before Jay County closed the half on a 10-3 swing to go out front 23-13 at intermission.
Three Dossen points and three from Navaeh Feasby pulled Heritage's deficit to six points before Caldwell drained a 3-pointer, assisted on a Madison Dirksen basket and made two free-throws to put Jay County's advantage back to double digits.
But as Heritage chipped away again to get within four late, Jay County never let the other Patriots get any closer.
“We just kept thinking that we were the better team and that we needed to step it up a little bit and play to our full potential,” Caldwell said. “We started picking it up and instead of getting down on each other like saying what we were doing wrong … we just kept thinking about the positives that we've been working on.”
And it was the seniors, those feeling responsible for the team not winning its fourth consecutive title last season, who gave the team a sense of redemption by putting the Patriots back at the top of the conference.
“These girls have won seven out of eight championships in the
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