Falcons shut down in 2nd (11/22/04)

PORTLAND — The Jay County girls basketball team won their second straight sectional championship last year. They hope to add a third. But this weekend was one of firsts for the Patriots.

Jay County defeated the Winchester Golden Falcons 47-31 Saturday night to improve to 3-1 on the season.

This is the first time the team’s seniors have opened at 3-1 after three consecutive 2-2 starts. It is also the first time the Patriots have defeated Winchester or Bellmont — which they topped 53-45 Friday night — since the turn of the century.

“We’re more ready to play when we come out,” said senior Renae Laux, who had a season-high 12 points, of the start to the season.

Coach Kirk Comer said his team has put together its three straight wins since losing the opener at Fort Wayne South Side because it has been able to execute down the stretch. Jay County did that Saturday by hitting its final five free throws, but it was the second quarter in which it wrested control of the game.

Winchester (2-1) led by as many as five points in the first quarter, and remained up 14-12 after the first eight minutes.

Laux answered that challenge, hitting a 3-pointer to open the second quarter. The Golden Falcons never regained the lead after that shot.

Theresa Reinhart followed with a hoop on an assist from Sara Garringer, and Garringer added four more points for a 9-0 Patriot run to open the second quarter. Winchester didn’t score in the second period as until Rachel Hirschy split a pair of free throws with 2:57 left. Her foul shot accounted for their only second quarter point.

“We got in some foul trouble, and when we got in foul trouble it gave them an opportunity to come back and get in the game and get the lead,” said Winchester coach Gary Horner. “We were playing catch up the rest of the night.”

Laux nailed her second 3-pointer with 1:07 to go before halftime as Jay County outscored the Golden Falcons 12-1 in the period for a 24-15 lead.

“I think we realized that we needed to step it up and play better defense — help defense — and take care of the ball better on offense,” said Laux of the second quarter.

“We were more mentally tough,” added fellow senior Jamie Bruggeman.

She finished 2-of-5 from 3-point range as she was one of two Patriots in double figures. She also had six rebounds and one assist.

“With this team different people step up on different nights,” said Comer. “Tonight was Renae’s night. Not only did she score some points, but she got some big rebounds and put-backs. It was just a great game for Renae.”

Bruggeman kept Jay County alive after it fell behind 7-2 in the first quarter. She scored each of the Patriots’ first eight points and finished with a game-high 15 to go along with four rebounds and two assists. She has scored at least 15 points in each of the last three games and is averaging 15 per game.

Garringer added eight points, seven boards and two assists, and Markie Runyon had five points and eight rebounds.

Winchester, which had just one senior and no juniors on the court, got 15 points from sophomore Mallory McCormick. She went 3-of-7 from long distance and also had seven rebounds.

Senior Rachel Hirschy had seven points and nine rebounds, and Alli Woodbury added seven points and five rebounds.

Hirschy had two fouls in the first quarter, and McCormick had two early in the second to force Horner to use his bench heavily during the stretch when Jay County took control. The Golden Falcons turned the ball over 30 times.

Junior varsity

Jay County’s junior varsity team scored as many points in the second quarter as Winchester did in the entire game for a 45-17 victory.

The Patriots (3-0) opened with a 6-0 run and led 11-6 after the first quarter. They outscored Winchester 17-0 in the second quarter to put the game out of reach.

Dana Horn and Miranda Betz each scored 10 points for Jay County. Mary Spencer added nine points, and Abby Loy scored seven.

Kelsey Tarter led the Falcons with six points, and Natasha Pelser had four.[[In-content Ad]]