Jay County blasts Indians

Coming off of a tough double weekend in which they knocked off the second-ranked team in Class 2A, the Patriots we able to shift into cruise control in the second half Tuesday.
Holding visiting Mississinewa without a field goal in the first and third quarters, the Jay County High School girls basketball team rolled to a 50-23 victory. It was their seventh straight win over the Indians by 15 points or more.
The Patriots (3-2) dominated the glass against Mississinewa (1-4), and got a combined 10 assists from Cara Garringer and Kassi Hemmelgarn in the first half.
“We worked on some little things that we were trying to get better at,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg, whose team led by 23 at the half and then scored the first seven points of the third quarter.
“We wanted to get the ball in and out more. … We’ve been working on our fundamentals. You’ve always got to do a pass fake. You’ve always got to look for the bounce pass, or throw the lob just high enough to get it to them (inside). … We’re getting better.
“We were working on rebounding. …  Because against Marion on Friday night, if we don’t box out they’re going to kill us on the boards. They’re athletic and they’ve got some good size, so we’ve got to do the little things.”
Rebounding was a non-issue against the Indians — JCHS turned in a 39-18 advantage — as Mariah Hornaday dominated inside again.
She finished with 17 boards and is now averaging 12.6 per game.
The junior forward also was the only player in double figures with 16 points.
“It’s kind of amazing because I didn’t realize she had 16 points until I looked at the book,” said Krieg. “Hers are just so quiet, and she’s so unselfish. … When (the shooters) are open outside, she just kicks it out there.”
Hornaday scored six of Jay County’s first 10 points, with two of her hoops coming on lay-ups after steals. Garringer then assisted on back-to-back 3-pointers by Erin Hunt to push the advantage to 16-0 before Mississinewa’s Courtlynd Scott hit two free throws with 49 seconds left in the opening quarter.
The Indians finally got their first field goal 1:28 into the second period from Emily Rodriguez, but JCHS closed the half on a 13-3 run.
The Patriots finished the opening half at 13-of-25 (52 percent) from the field.
“In the first half, we shot the ball really well,” said Krieg. “In the second half, we struggled.
“I don’t think we had the killer instinct tonight like we had Saturday night. … The intensity just wasn’t there. We played hard, but the intensity was not there.”
They pushed their lead to 39-9 before Mississinewa got its only point of the third quarter on a Maddie Edwards free throw. The Indians finally broke a 13-minute field-goal drought on a Alanna Owen hoop, and scored 11 points in the final 5:30 as JCHS cleared its bench.
Hunt followed Hornaday with nine points for the Patriots, all of which came on first-half 3-pointers.
Hemmelgarn added eight points, and Maria Murphy totaled six points and seven rebounds.
Becca Burchette hit a pair of 3-pointers and led Mississinewa with eight points. Justine May scored five points, and Rodriguez grabbed six rebounds.

Junior varsity
The Patriots gradually pulled away Tuesday as they extended their record to 4-1 with a 27-13 victory over Mississinewa.
Shelby Shirk totaled eight points for Jay County, which was up by four at the half and outscored the Indians 8-2 in the third quarter. Megan Sawyer finished with five points, and Alex Loy added four.
Mississinewa got five points from Maddie Edwards. Maddie Lennen added three points.[[In-content Ad]]