Jay rallies past Jets in fourth

The Patriots had their lead slip away early in the fourth quarter.

A change in offense got them back in it. Clutch free throws gave them the lead and then helped put the game away.

Jay County High School’s girls basketball team rallied from a six-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter and hung on for a 46-41 victory against the Adams Central Jets on Friday in its Allen County Athletic Conference opener.

“Well, the fourth quarter, I thought we did what we had to do to win,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team has now won seven straight games. “Things weren’t going well for us tonight, but you have to give Adams Central credit, their defense had us confused and we didn’t execute our offense very well at all tonight.

“We struggled all night tonight trying to find shots. We’ve got to do a better job of executing.”

Adams Central (5-4, 1-1 ACAC) turned a 19-11 deficit at half into a 37-31 lead at almost the midway point of the fourth quarter. The Jets, who were down just 27-25 after three periods, went on a 12-4 run to begin the final stanza.



Renna Schwieterman scored the first bucket of the final eight minutes to put Jay County (8-1, 1-0 ACA) on top 29-25, but Sage Hammond hit consecutive buckets for Adams Central to tie the score. Marissa Van De Weg made a shot from the left block to make it 31-29, then Alivia Dalrymple, who scored all 11 of the Jets’ first-half points, split a pair of free throws to put her team ahead, 32-29.

Following a Madison Dirksen basket for Jay County, Van De Weg scored on a back-door cut to the hoop, and Dalrymple drained her fourth and final 3-pointer to give the Jets their biggest lead, 37-31, with 4:30 remaining.

That’s when Dirksen, who already had 10 points, asked to handle the middle of the Jets’ zone defense. She promptly scored on consecutive possessions.

“She called it on her own,” Comer said. “It showed a lot of confidence … so I thought that was a big key to the fourth quarter.”

After Hammond sank both ends of a one-and-one, Schwieterman converted an old-fashioned three-point play, and then Izzy Rodgers made two bonus free throws with 2:17 left to give the Patriots the lead.

Rodgers made two more from the stripe to cap a five-point swing for Jay County, which was 7-of-11 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter despite shooting 11-of-19 for the night.

“I think free throws a lot of times are misleading because it depends on who’s shooting the free throws,” Comer said. “But at the end of the game in clutch situations we want to have our free-throw shooters shooting free throws and definitely Izzy is one we want to see at the line.

“It just shows the maturity of this team. We’re a year older. Last year we might not have been able to pull this out. Because of the schedule we played so far and the things we’ve been through we were able to get through this one.”

Although the game was tied 6-6 at the end of the first quarter and Dalrymple scored 11 points in the first half, Jay County went into intermission with a three-possession lead because of an 11-point run.

Grace Saxman swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key on an Aubrie Schwieterman assist to tie the game at nine apiece, then Dirksen followed with a bucket on an inbound pass from Rodgers. Renna Schwieterman — the sophomore led Jay County with 15 points — drove the right side of the lane for a layup, then older sister Aubrie split a pair of free throws. Rodgers completed the run with her only perimeter shot of the night.

Still, Dalrymple’s effort upset Comer the most.

Dalrymple entered the night averaging 12.3 points per game. She was 4-of-7 from 3-point range, including a 3-for-4 effort in the first half, for a game-high 17 points. McKenna Dietsch, who averaged 17.5 points per game, had just two points on a third-quarter runner through the middle.

“I was disappointed in the start of our game,” Comer said. “We talked all week about (Dalrymple) and (McKenna Dietsch) being their shooters. We lost (Dalrymple) three times. How you work all week on that’s what you’re supposed to be looking for and three times she’s wide open for a three. If she’s wide open she’s going to make it.”

Coming off her 21-point effort in a win Tuesday against Muncie Central, Dirksen joined Schwieterman in double figures with 14 points.

“We’re trying to play our best basketball at the end, and tonight, I don’t want to say we had a bad night because you want to give them credit, but I am proud of how the girls had to grind it out tonight,” said Comer, whose team travels to take on sectional rival New Castle on Thursday. “When we were having trouble finding shots we still found enough points to get through the night.”



Junior varsity

Jay County trailed after every quarter in a 35-30 loss to Adams Central.

The Patriots (5-3) were down 13-5 at the end of the first and 18-12 at halftime. The deficit increased to 11 points after three quarters before the Patriots had an 11-5 margin in the final period in coming up short.

Molly Muhlenkamp scored nine points to lead the Patriots, and Breanna Dirksen was second with five points.