February 3, 2021 at 5:05 a.m.
Far from perfect
Patriots not their best, but prevail over Eagles in sectional opener
Far from perfect
NEW CASTLE — It was hardly their best game of the season.
It was far from it, actually.
But the Patriots had a familiar feeling afterward.
They were winners.
Jay County High School’s girls basketball team overcame a sluggish start and benefitted from a poor shooting performance by the Delta Eagles to get a 52-27 victory in the Class 3A Sectional 24 quarterfinal Tuesday at New Castle Fieldhouse.
“I think we had some nerves which, hopefully, we got that out of our system,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer. “I know Renna (Schwieterman) said she was nervous. She’s played in a lot of big games with AAU. You’d think she’d be beyond that, and we had a lot of girls where tonight was their first night playing in a sectional.
“Not to make excuses, but the big thing I’m disappointed in is mentally we were not focused. Talking with the girls at halftime they said they think they took this game lightly and you can’t do that.”
The Patriots, who finished 11th in the final Class 3A poll of the season, move to 18-3 on the season and advance to the sectional semifinal at 6 p.m. Friday against the Yorktown Tigers (15-5). Jay County overcame a 13-point deficit to beat the Tigers when they met Dec. 29 in Yorktown.
On Tuesday, Jay County’s first seven possessions ended without points. It had three turnovers and missed six consecutive shots.
Nearly six minutes had gone off the clock before Madison Dirksen stopped the cold spell as she converted a Breanna Dirksen assist. Fortunately for the Patriots, Delta was struggling in its own right as well, and the score was just 2-2 at that point.
After Jay County led 8-6 at the end of the first period, the Patriots were able to find a bit of a rhythm offensively and started to pull away. Izzy Rodgers and Schwieterman scored consecutive JCHS buckets to make it 12-6 and force a Delta timeout. The Eagles (5-16) made it a four-point game with a pair of free throws but then Jay County scored the final 11 points of the first half, including six straight from Schwieterman.
Delta, which was 16.7% from the field in the first quarter, didn’t make a field goal in the second and went into halftime shooting just 8.3%. The Eagles also had 14 turnovers and finished with 11 giveaways on the night.
“We’re lucky they missed a lot of shots,” Comer said. “Hopefully some of that was due to our defense. We’re going to have to be a lot better offensively on Friday night and defensively in order to have a chance to move on.”
Shooting difficulties were not only an issue for Delta. Jay County was 9-of-25 (36%) in the first two quarters, but was able to turn things around a bit over the final 12 minutes. The Patriots opened its biggest lead of the night, 30-8, by scoring the first seven points of the third. Gabi Bilbrey had her only three points of the night while Madison Dirksen and Schwieterman each had a bucket.
Jay County was almost 42% (13-for-31) in the final two quarters. Having to rely rather heavily on Schwieterman over their last four contests — the sophomore standout averaged more than 30 points per game in that span — the Patriots dished 11 assists and had seven players with at least two points.
“We’ve got to share the ball,” Comer said. “I thought we did a good job of that. We didn’t shoot very well, but hopefully things even out and maybe we’ll shoot a little better on Friday.”
Turnovers were an issue for both teams as well as there were a combined 44 giveaways. The Eagles were responsible for 25 of them.
Schwieterman led all players with 18 points. Dirksen finished with 11 points, and Izzy Rodgers added seven.
Delta junior Addie Chester had just two points in the first half and ended with a team-best 16, including four 3-pointers. But she had to work for her points, as she took 26 shots.
Jay County played one of its toughest games when it knocked off Yorktown more than a month ago. That night, Schwieterman scored what was then a season-high 26 points. (She broke the school’s single-game scoring record with 43 points Jan. 8). The Patriots were down six at halftime and by as many as a baker’s dozen.
“They’re a very good team,” Comer said. “They have two really good guards that are hard to guard. We did some things defensively that we thought worked so we’ll try that again. Hopefully we have as much success as we did that night.
“We have to be ready for the press. They like to press. We have to be able to handle their pressure and attack it rather than let them attack us.”
It was far from it, actually.
But the Patriots had a familiar feeling afterward.
They were winners.
Jay County High School’s girls basketball team overcame a sluggish start and benefitted from a poor shooting performance by the Delta Eagles to get a 52-27 victory in the Class 3A Sectional 24 quarterfinal Tuesday at New Castle Fieldhouse.
“I think we had some nerves which, hopefully, we got that out of our system,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer. “I know Renna (Schwieterman) said she was nervous. She’s played in a lot of big games with AAU. You’d think she’d be beyond that, and we had a lot of girls where tonight was their first night playing in a sectional.
“Not to make excuses, but the big thing I’m disappointed in is mentally we were not focused. Talking with the girls at halftime they said they think they took this game lightly and you can’t do that.”
The Patriots, who finished 11th in the final Class 3A poll of the season, move to 18-3 on the season and advance to the sectional semifinal at 6 p.m. Friday against the Yorktown Tigers (15-5). Jay County overcame a 13-point deficit to beat the Tigers when they met Dec. 29 in Yorktown.
On Tuesday, Jay County’s first seven possessions ended without points. It had three turnovers and missed six consecutive shots.
Nearly six minutes had gone off the clock before Madison Dirksen stopped the cold spell as she converted a Breanna Dirksen assist. Fortunately for the Patriots, Delta was struggling in its own right as well, and the score was just 2-2 at that point.
After Jay County led 8-6 at the end of the first period, the Patriots were able to find a bit of a rhythm offensively and started to pull away. Izzy Rodgers and Schwieterman scored consecutive JCHS buckets to make it 12-6 and force a Delta timeout. The Eagles (5-16) made it a four-point game with a pair of free throws but then Jay County scored the final 11 points of the first half, including six straight from Schwieterman.
Delta, which was 16.7% from the field in the first quarter, didn’t make a field goal in the second and went into halftime shooting just 8.3%. The Eagles also had 14 turnovers and finished with 11 giveaways on the night.
“We’re lucky they missed a lot of shots,” Comer said. “Hopefully some of that was due to our defense. We’re going to have to be a lot better offensively on Friday night and defensively in order to have a chance to move on.”
Shooting difficulties were not only an issue for Delta. Jay County was 9-of-25 (36%) in the first two quarters, but was able to turn things around a bit over the final 12 minutes. The Patriots opened its biggest lead of the night, 30-8, by scoring the first seven points of the third. Gabi Bilbrey had her only three points of the night while Madison Dirksen and Schwieterman each had a bucket.
Jay County was almost 42% (13-for-31) in the final two quarters. Having to rely rather heavily on Schwieterman over their last four contests — the sophomore standout averaged more than 30 points per game in that span — the Patriots dished 11 assists and had seven players with at least two points.
“We’ve got to share the ball,” Comer said. “I thought we did a good job of that. We didn’t shoot very well, but hopefully things even out and maybe we’ll shoot a little better on Friday.”
Turnovers were an issue for both teams as well as there were a combined 44 giveaways. The Eagles were responsible for 25 of them.
Schwieterman led all players with 18 points. Dirksen finished with 11 points, and Izzy Rodgers added seven.
Delta junior Addie Chester had just two points in the first half and ended with a team-best 16, including four 3-pointers. But she had to work for her points, as she took 26 shots.
Jay County played one of its toughest games when it knocked off Yorktown more than a month ago. That night, Schwieterman scored what was then a season-high 26 points. (She broke the school’s single-game scoring record with 43 points Jan. 8). The Patriots were down six at halftime and by as many as a baker’s dozen.
“They’re a very good team,” Comer said. “They have two really good guards that are hard to guard. We did some things defensively that we thought worked so we’ll try that again. Hopefully we have as much success as we did that night.
“We have to be ready for the press. They like to press. We have to be able to handle their pressure and attack it rather than let them attack us.”
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