A tale of two halves (12/21/06)

ELWOOD - It wasn't quite on the level of "the best of times ... the worst of times". But the shift between the first and second half Wednesday was quite dramatic.

Jay County's girls basketball team played an inspired final 16 minutes, using a 15-0 run to erase an eight-point halftime deficit. It limited the Elwood Panthers to just nine second-half points as it surged for a 43-36 victory.

And the Patriots did it without the two players - Sara Garringer (injury) and Cassandra Huelskamp (illness) - who combined to score 40 of the team's 54 points in last season's sectional-championship victory over Elwood.

"We went with a quicker lineup in the second half," said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team improved to 9-2. "I didn't think we were playing with much defensive intensity in the first half. So we went with a quicker lineup ... the whole game plan was to try to wear them down and it didn't seem to be working in the first half. We committed some silly fouls.

"I thought our kids showed a lot of character. They had every excuse to lose without Sara playing and Cassandra. I thought it was huge for us to be able to pull out a win."

The Patriots had an eight-point hole to dig out of after a first half in which they had more turnovers (20) than points (19). But it didn't take them long.

Early in the third quarter a rebound caromed to Dana Horn, who pushed the ball up the floor and assisted on a fast-break lay-up to Abby Loy. And the rally was on.

Jay County's defense started forcing turnovers, and Horn assisted again on a Lindsey Wellman hoop with 6:01 on the clock. The next trip down the floor Horn dished off to Kaelee Keller for a 3-pointer, and Elwood coach Shelly Renbarger was forced to call a time-out as her team's lead had slipped to just one point.

"We got some turnovers, but we still never converted the other way," said Renbarger. "Their defensive pressure was everywhere ... and we just couldn't overcome it today.

"I just wasn't happy with the way we did not respond when we were trapped."

While the Panthers (9-4) continued to struggle against the JCHS "run-and-jump" defense, Keller hit a put-back hoop on the first possession after the time-out for a 28-27 Patriot lead. The visitors would never trail again.

Wellman hit a free throw, and then Horn got the assist show rolling again. She found Theresa Reinhart for a 3-pointer and then Wellman for a basket in the post, completing the 15-0 Jay County run for a 34-27 lead.

Horn had five of her game-high seven assist during the rally, helping to turn Elwood's six turnovers during the span into points on the opposite end.

"We have to get points off our defensive end," said Comer. "We knew that if we were able to do that we'd have a chance in the second half and if we couldn't it was going to be a long night. Fortunately, we were able to do that."

Despite going nearly six minutes without scoring, Elwood managed to get within three by hitting the final two hoops of the third period. The Panthers failed to score for the first five minutes of the fourth, and Jay County pushed back ahead by eight only to have the home team cut the deficit to four with 2:22 to play.

Loy hit a free throw to nudge the lead to 40-35 with 1:24 to play, then Keller hit the dagger.

The sophomore launched a 3-pointer from the right baseline, which seemed a ill-advised idea at the time as the Patriots had a five-point lead and an opportunity to run the clock. But it looked awfully good when it swished cleanly through the net.

Keller's second triple of the game put Jay County up 43-35 with just 43 seconds to go and effectively ended the evening for the Panthers. She went 2-of-2 from 3-point range, as did senior Theresa Reinhart (six points), and 3-for-4 overall to finish behind Wellman with nine points.

Wellman racked up 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. She also grabbed seven rebounds - senior Whitney Homan added five boards - as the Patriots took a 29-23 advantage on the glass.

"She killed us," said Renbarger of Wellman. "She ate us alive basically tonight. She moves real well. I was impressed with her."

Jay County struggled in the opening half, turning the ball over on more than half of its possessions. It only trailed by two after giving the ball away 13 times in the opening period, but the Panthers pushed ahead 27-19 at the half.

But the Patriots limited Elwood to 4-of-18 shooting (22 percent) after the break to come back. The Panthers especially struggled from long distance, going 1-of-14 with Shalynn Wright (0-for-11 overall) at 0-of-9.

"That wears on a kid when you miss shot after shot," said Renbarger. "She couldn't buy one today, that happens. Our shooting was just off today."

Abbey Abner led Elwood with 14 points and six rebounds, and Kelsey Whitson added 10 points and seven boards.

Junior varsity

The Patriots took a 9-3 lead in the opening period, stayed in control and pulled away behind Sarah Westgerdes in the fourth quarter for a 43-25 win over Elwood.

Jay County (10-1) had a seven-point lead at the half and pushed the advantage to 10 in the third period. Westgerdes scored six of her team-best eight points as JCHS took a 14-6 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Amber Edmundson joined Westgerdes with eight points. Brittany Mann and Gina Muhlenkamp each added six.

Ashley Carpenter finished with 10 points for the Panthers to lead all scorers. Paige Hanlin chipped in five.[[In-content Ad]]