Patriots first in ACAC

Jay County’s girls basketball team relies on its defense.
It had led the team to six straight wins to open the season, but faltered in a loss Tuesday to Muncie Central.
The Patriots weren’t going to be let down on the defensive end again.
Jay County forced Adams Central to turn the ball over on 10 of its 15 possessions in the opening quarter and built a big lead on more offensive mishaps by the Flying Jets in a 63-31 thumping Friday night.
With the victory over its new Allen County Athletic Conference opponent, the Patriots move into sole possession of first place in the ACAC following Bluffton’s 48-45 loss to Woodlan. Jay County is the only team with an unblemished conference record.
“Defense has won a lot of ball games,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg, whose team improves to 7-1 (3-0 ACAC). “Throughout this year, defense has been our best offense. Tonight we did a really good job. We went out there and hit them hard defensively.”
The Patriots set the tone on defense early.
Then they did it often.
Adams Central (1-7, 0-3 ACAC) saw its first three possessions of the game come up empty, which led to six early points by Jay County. Following a rare turnover by the Patriots, Kara Keller hit a 3-pointer on an assist from Megan Salway.
Jay County senior Bre McIntire drained a pair of free throws to make it 8-3 in favor of the home team, then Keller added two more of her team-high 16 points.
The Jets’ struggles continued.
Jay County forced seven more turnovers, holding Adams Central scoreless for more than eight minutes.
“Coach (Krieg) is always stressing that defense is what creates offense,” said JCHS junior Abby Wendel. “Against Muncie Central defense cost us that game, and that is normally what wins us games.
“We had to have a better game this time (and) we did that. The 17 turnovers (by Adams Central in the first half) helped us get our lead, which was definitely what we try to do.”
And boy, did it work.
Jay County scored 21 straight points spanning the end of the first quarter and into the second. The Patriots’ transition offense caught the Jets out of position and led to easy buckets under the hoop. During the run, six players scored for Jay County, led by Wendel’s seven points and five by McIntire.
Wendel finished with a career and game-high 19 points, and McIntire was close behind with 15 points.
The tenacity of the Patriot defense was something the Jets just weren’t able to prepare for.
“Jay County’s defense is really intense,” said Adams Central assistant coach Cheri Jesionowski, who was filling in for ailing coach Sam Beer. “We knew that coming in, but until you play against it, it’s a totally different caliber.
“You can’t practice for that. It’s tough to prepare for.”
Adams Central broke its scoring drought with 5:09 left in the first half. Keller hit a jumper from the right side and then assisted on a bucket by Natalie Holley for four quick points, making the score 29-9.
Jay County went into intermission on a 9-2 run — it led 38-11 — and opened the third quarter with two more points by Wendel. She ended up 7-of-8 from the field and a flawless 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.
She said her offensive effort was a good way to bounce back from the loss at Muncie Central, in which she started 5-of-6 in the opening half and didn’t attempt a shot following the break.
“It was definitely better than Muncie Central,” she said, adding the victory over the Jets is an all-around boost of confidence. “You never know after a loss how the team is feeling. We were mentally strong enough to get the win following a loss.”
The Patriots extended their lead to 31 in the final seconds of the third quarter and were up by as many as 37 in the fourth quarter.
Junior varsity
The Patriots were held scoreless in the final period.
Thankfully for them, they had built a 17-point lead in the first three quarters.
Jay County’s junior varsity team held the visiting Jets to two points in each of the first and third quarters in a 31-14 victory.
Betsy Muhlenkamp and Kyndal Miller both scored 10 points to lead the Patriots (7-1). Audrey Shreve, Kate Beougher and Britlyn Dues all chipped in with three points.
Anne Isch led the Jets with four points.