Bellmont tops Patriots

DECATUR — In its final match before the sectional tournament, the Jay County boys tennis team dropped a 4-1 decision Tuesday to the host Bellmont Braves.
The lone victory for the Patriots (3-14) came at No. 2 doubles, where Jordan McBride and Drew Wood defeated Kyle Smith and Nick Farote. The No. 1 doubles team of Chance Fuller and Joe Imel fell 6-4, 6-2 to Garrett McCord and Matt Stitam.
In singles action, Landry Inman lost 6-1, 6-4 to Phil Bauman at No. 3 and Derek Smith lost 6-3, 6-1 to Kodee McIntosh at No. 2. Brad Leuthold suffered a shutout loss to Payton Selking at No. 1 singles.
Jay County lost the junior varsity match 9-1 with the lone victory coming from Josh Martin at No. 4 singles.

Soccer draws Delta
INDIANAPOLIS — If the Jay County boys soccer team is to earn a third straight sectional title, it will have to avenge a regular season defeat.
The Patriots will play Delta in the opening game of the tournament at Blackford on Oct. 7 at 5:30 p.m. The sectional draw was held Tuesday.
The other semifinal game, which will be played Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m., will pit Wapahani against the host Bruins. The championship game will be Oct. 9 at 11 a.m. with the winner advancing to meet the Anderson sectional champion in the regional at Blackford.
Jay County (4-9) dropped its regular-season meeting 2-1 to Delta. It defeated Blackford 5-2 and Wapahani 4-3.

Chiefs top Driver
East Jay Middle School’s cross country teams all picked up victories Tuesday over visiting Winchester Driver.
The seventh grade boys swept the top five spots for a 15-50 victory. The girls team won 18-43, and the boys eked out a 28-29 win.
Michael Denney powered the victory of the seventh grade Chiefs, winning the race in 14 minutes, 22 seconds. He was followed by Tim Hein (14:27), Matthew Cox (15:09), Luke Weaver (15:10) and Mark Hein (15:20).
Eme Minnich won the girls race two seconds ahead of teammate Megan Wellman in 14:18. Kellie Fortkamp was fourth in 15:53 followed by Sophie Bader (fifth - 15:55) and Erika Kunkler (sixth - 16:00).
Jalen Ryder finished first for EJMS in the eighth grade boys race in 13:31. Tyler Wendel was fourth in 14:09 ahead of Adam Jutte (fifth - 14:11), Bryan Schwieterman (sixth - 14:33) and Conner Daniels (12th - 16:53).

EJ tops Westside
UNION CITY — With a dominant third game, the East Jay eighth grade volleyball team earned a 25-14, 23-25, 15-2 victory over host Westside. The seventh graders won, 25-16, 25-20.
Michelle Wellman and Catherine Dunn dominated the service game for the eighth grade Chiefs (6-8). Wellman totaled 15 points and nine aces, and Dunn had 10 points and nine aces. Malarie Houck added four kills, and Jessica Kerrigan had four assists.
Hannah Lykins finished with nine points and three assists for the seventh graders (8-6), and Mallory Marshall also scored nine points. Ava Kunkler had four kills, and Kylie Osborne added three.
The sixth grade team was also in action Tuesday, losing 25-18, 25-6 to Yorktown. Lizzy Schoenlein had five aces, five digs and a kill, and Britlyn Dues added six digs and two kills.
The sixth grade B team won 25-18, 12-25, 15-11 led by 12 aces from Abby Muhlenkamp.[[In-content Ad]]