July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
11 and counting (12/19/07)
JCHS girls basketball
11 and counting (12/19/07)
By By RAY COONEY-
The Patriots are ready for a challenge. For the past month, there haven't been many.
Since rallying in the fourth quarter to hand Norwell its only defeat Nov. 23, the Jay County High School girls basketball team has played just one game - a 60-58 win over Anderson Highland - decided by fewer than 20 points.
They turned in their second straight 50-point win Tuesday, clobbering the visiting Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks 68-18.
"There's not anything this year that's been in between," said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team also defeated Blackford 63-11 Dec. 11. "You need some of the games where you've really got to work to compete to get a win. And then you need some that you should win every year. And you need those in the middle. And this year it seems like we don't have a lot of those games in the middle."
The Patriots (11-1), who have now won 11 in a row, have seen both ends of the spectrum this year.
They lost their season opener to Class 4A No. 10 Fort Wayne South Side (9-1), and have wins over Winchester (8-2), which has been ranked in Class 2A most of the season, and Class 3A No. 10 Norwell (8-1). At the opposite end, they have crushed Muncie Southside (0-10), Mississinewa (1-9), Blackford (1-8) and Mississinawa Valley (0-9).
And in reality, a good portion of their schedule - Bluffton (7-3), Bellmont (6-5), Anderson Highland (5-6), Muncie Central (4-5) and Union City (4-6) - lies somewhere in the middle. But Jay County has clobbered each of those middle-of-the-road teams, the closest game coming by a 58-42 score against Bellmont.
Winless Mississinawa Valley became the latest victim of the JCHS juggernaut Tuesday as the Patriots scored the first eight points, went up 20-4 at the end of the first quarter and turned in an 18-0 run bridging the halftime break. The visitors from Union City, Ohio, turned the ball over on each of their first five possessions and gave it away 21 times in the first half.
Lindsey Wellman and Kaelee Keller led Jay County's 61-percent shooting effort, each missing just two shots from the field. Wellman was 9-of-11 and finished with 20 points, and Keller shot 6-of-8, including 2-of-2 from long distance, for 18 points.
"We got a lot of good looks," said Comer, whose team has scored at least 55 points in every game this year and is averaging 65. "Lindsey finished her shots. Kaelee just continues to put the ball in the hole for us."
Cassandra Huelskamp joined Wellman and Keller in double figures with 10 points. Pazia Speed went 4-for-4 from the field for eight points, and Abby Loy hit her only two attempts - both 3-pointers - for six points.
Jay County shot 7-of-11 (64 percent) from 3-point range and 9-of-11 (82 percent) from the foul line, won the rebounding battle and had 17 assists on 26 made baskets.
Comer said he was disappointed with his team's early turnovers, a problem the Patriots corrected in the second half.
"It's hard mentally to play at the top of your game, but we're a mature enough team that we should be able to do that.
"I was disappointed in the first half in the way we played, the way we handled the basketball," said Comer, whose squad had 10 first-half turnovers before giving the ball away just twice after the intermission. "We talked about it at halftime ... we didn't really do anything different in the second half than we did in the first half. It's just I think we were mentally more focused. And we should have come out that way."
The big tests are coming for Jay County.
The Patriots, who have a chance to match the best season in school history - 20-3 in 1985-86, will seek to run their streak to 12 straight victories Saturday, Dec. 29, when they host Fort Recovery. The state-line battle, rescheduled from the original Dec. 15 date, will begin with junior varsity action at 11 a.m.
Then comes the toughest stretch of the season, in which Jay County will play New Castle (8-1), Huntington North (5-3) and Connersville (8-1) in succession. The Patriots lost to all three last season.
"We need to play against those teams that are going to make us better," said Comer. "Win or lose, it's going to raise our level of play.
"This is a really good group of girls. They have some pretty lofty goals and they're willing to work to achieve them."
Cierra Saintignon's five points Tuesday were a team-high for Mississinawa Valley. Ariel Cox grabbed a game-best six rebounds.
Junior varsity
The Patriots dominated the third quarter, pulling away for a 44-21 victory over Mississinawa Valley.
Jay County led by just five at the half, but outscored the Blackhawks 17-3 in the third. Leading scorers Cara Garringer and Shelby Gierhart did most of the damage, scoring 13 of their team's 17 points.
Garringer nearly matched the entire Mississinawa Valley team as she scored 18 points, including four 3-pointers. Gierhart hit a trio of second-half triples and finished with 13 points.
Jodi Schmitz scored nine points to pace the Blackhawks. Kirstin Jessup and Jordan Wicker chipped in four points apiece.[[In-content Ad]]
Since rallying in the fourth quarter to hand Norwell its only defeat Nov. 23, the Jay County High School girls basketball team has played just one game - a 60-58 win over Anderson Highland - decided by fewer than 20 points.
They turned in their second straight 50-point win Tuesday, clobbering the visiting Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks 68-18.
"There's not anything this year that's been in between," said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team also defeated Blackford 63-11 Dec. 11. "You need some of the games where you've really got to work to compete to get a win. And then you need some that you should win every year. And you need those in the middle. And this year it seems like we don't have a lot of those games in the middle."
The Patriots (11-1), who have now won 11 in a row, have seen both ends of the spectrum this year.
They lost their season opener to Class 4A No. 10 Fort Wayne South Side (9-1), and have wins over Winchester (8-2), which has been ranked in Class 2A most of the season, and Class 3A No. 10 Norwell (8-1). At the opposite end, they have crushed Muncie Southside (0-10), Mississinewa (1-9), Blackford (1-8) and Mississinawa Valley (0-9).
And in reality, a good portion of their schedule - Bluffton (7-3), Bellmont (6-5), Anderson Highland (5-6), Muncie Central (4-5) and Union City (4-6) - lies somewhere in the middle. But Jay County has clobbered each of those middle-of-the-road teams, the closest game coming by a 58-42 score against Bellmont.
Winless Mississinawa Valley became the latest victim of the JCHS juggernaut Tuesday as the Patriots scored the first eight points, went up 20-4 at the end of the first quarter and turned in an 18-0 run bridging the halftime break. The visitors from Union City, Ohio, turned the ball over on each of their first five possessions and gave it away 21 times in the first half.
Lindsey Wellman and Kaelee Keller led Jay County's 61-percent shooting effort, each missing just two shots from the field. Wellman was 9-of-11 and finished with 20 points, and Keller shot 6-of-8, including 2-of-2 from long distance, for 18 points.
"We got a lot of good looks," said Comer, whose team has scored at least 55 points in every game this year and is averaging 65. "Lindsey finished her shots. Kaelee just continues to put the ball in the hole for us."
Cassandra Huelskamp joined Wellman and Keller in double figures with 10 points. Pazia Speed went 4-for-4 from the field for eight points, and Abby Loy hit her only two attempts - both 3-pointers - for six points.
Jay County shot 7-of-11 (64 percent) from 3-point range and 9-of-11 (82 percent) from the foul line, won the rebounding battle and had 17 assists on 26 made baskets.
Comer said he was disappointed with his team's early turnovers, a problem the Patriots corrected in the second half.
"It's hard mentally to play at the top of your game, but we're a mature enough team that we should be able to do that.
"I was disappointed in the first half in the way we played, the way we handled the basketball," said Comer, whose squad had 10 first-half turnovers before giving the ball away just twice after the intermission. "We talked about it at halftime ... we didn't really do anything different in the second half than we did in the first half. It's just I think we were mentally more focused. And we should have come out that way."
The big tests are coming for Jay County.
The Patriots, who have a chance to match the best season in school history - 20-3 in 1985-86, will seek to run their streak to 12 straight victories Saturday, Dec. 29, when they host Fort Recovery. The state-line battle, rescheduled from the original Dec. 15 date, will begin with junior varsity action at 11 a.m.
Then comes the toughest stretch of the season, in which Jay County will play New Castle (8-1), Huntington North (5-3) and Connersville (8-1) in succession. The Patriots lost to all three last season.
"We need to play against those teams that are going to make us better," said Comer. "Win or lose, it's going to raise our level of play.
"This is a really good group of girls. They have some pretty lofty goals and they're willing to work to achieve them."
Cierra Saintignon's five points Tuesday were a team-high for Mississinawa Valley. Ariel Cox grabbed a game-best six rebounds.
Junior varsity
The Patriots dominated the third quarter, pulling away for a 44-21 victory over Mississinawa Valley.
Jay County led by just five at the half, but outscored the Blackhawks 17-3 in the third. Leading scorers Cara Garringer and Shelby Gierhart did most of the damage, scoring 13 of their team's 17 points.
Garringer nearly matched the entire Mississinawa Valley team as she scored 18 points, including four 3-pointers. Gierhart hit a trio of second-half triples and finished with 13 points.
Jodi Schmitz scored nine points to pace the Blackhawks. Kirstin Jessup and Jordan Wicker chipped in four points apiece.[[In-content Ad]]
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