July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Jay rolls to 6th straight win (11/28/07)
JCHS girls basketball
Jay rolls to 6th straight win (11/28/07)
By By RAY COONEY-
The Patriots remembered what happened to them in Bluffton last season. They made sure there would be no reprisal on their home floor.
Jay County High School's girls basketball team buried the visiting Bluffton Tigers in a hurry Tuesday, using a 21-0 run bridging the first and second quarters to take firm control on the way to a 78-40 win.
"We came out tonight with a lot of intensity, a lot of fire. We talked about last year's game a lot," said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team's only loss during last year's 8-1 start came by one point at Bluffton. "We didn't want to put ourselves in a situation like that this year. We wanted to jump out early."
Jay County, which never trailed against the Tigers (3-3), got the explosion it wanted after a Marah Kyle three-point play cut its advantage to 5-3 in the opening minutes.
Back-to-back hoops from Amber Edmundson started the run, and consecutive 3-pointers by Cassandra Huelskamp and Abby Loy to close the opening quarter put the Patriots up 19-3. Huelskamp added the second of her three triples in the game to open the second quarter, and Kaelee Keller hit a pair of free throws to finish the run.
Bluffton had just one field goal in the first quarter, and didn't get a point from anyone other than Kyle, a senior all-state candidate, until Haleigh Osborne got a put-back hoop with 2:50 remaining in the first half.
Jay County dominated every aspect of the game, including a season-best 29-of-54 (54 percent) shooting from the field. It won the rebounding battle 35-19, had 12 more assists than the Tigers and limited turnovers.
The big win marked the third time this season they Patriots have scored 70 or more points. They have posted at least 55 in every game, and their average margin of victory is more than 30 points.
"It's exciting to know there's so many things you need to work on and yet we've won six in a row," said Comer, who picked up his 175th career coaching victory. "We're just trying to get better each night, and I think we are.
"We did a good job the first half on the boards. Overall, it was a really good night. We beat a basketball team that's going to win a lot of games before it's all said and done."
Huge efforts off the bench helped power the Patriots, led by career nights from both Brittany Mann and Sharon Dirksen.
Mann caught fire from the field, hitting seven of her eight attempts for a career-best 17 points. Dirksen was strong underneath, hitting 4-of-5 from the field as she scored a career-high 11 points.
Both players were 3-for-4 at the foul line, Dirksen added seven rebounds and Mann had four boards and two assists.
"Confidence is huge," said Comer, noting that Mann was a key defensively in Friday's 24-4 fourth-quarter for a comeback win over previously unbeaten Norwell. "Coming off that game it snowballed. That really helped her tonight.
"I thought Dirk had a good game. She gives us that third post player that we've been looking for that can come in and give us positive minutes.
"I'm really pleased. I feel like we're just getting deeper and deeper."
Freshman Cara Garringer also came off the bench for a career highlight, scoring her first varsity points on her only field-goal attempt of the game. She buried a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter off a Mann assist.
Loy and Keller joined Mann and Dirksen in double figures as they each scored 10 points. Keller also matched Lindsey Wellman with a team-best three assists.
Huelskamp scored all of her nine points from 3-point range, and Edmundson was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field for eight points. Wellman grabbed a game-best nine rebounds.
Kyle, who hit the game-winning bucket against the Patriots a year ago, was the only threat for Bluffton most of the way as she scored 23 points. She was 8-of-20 from the field with three 3-pointers.
Osborne added eight points and six rebounds.
Junior varsity
Jay County scored in double digits in each of the first three quarters as it clobbered the Tigers 54-21.
Cara Garringer had 17 points for the Patriots, who were up by 15 after the opening period and 24 at halftime. Mackenzie Loy added seven points, and Jamie Klinger and Katie Butcher each added six.
Sarah Tullis was the leading scorer for Bluffton with five points. Laxi Garrett and Frannie Garrett each added three.[[In-content Ad]]
Jay County High School's girls basketball team buried the visiting Bluffton Tigers in a hurry Tuesday, using a 21-0 run bridging the first and second quarters to take firm control on the way to a 78-40 win.
"We came out tonight with a lot of intensity, a lot of fire. We talked about last year's game a lot," said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team's only loss during last year's 8-1 start came by one point at Bluffton. "We didn't want to put ourselves in a situation like that this year. We wanted to jump out early."
Jay County, which never trailed against the Tigers (3-3), got the explosion it wanted after a Marah Kyle three-point play cut its advantage to 5-3 in the opening minutes.
Back-to-back hoops from Amber Edmundson started the run, and consecutive 3-pointers by Cassandra Huelskamp and Abby Loy to close the opening quarter put the Patriots up 19-3. Huelskamp added the second of her three triples in the game to open the second quarter, and Kaelee Keller hit a pair of free throws to finish the run.
Bluffton had just one field goal in the first quarter, and didn't get a point from anyone other than Kyle, a senior all-state candidate, until Haleigh Osborne got a put-back hoop with 2:50 remaining in the first half.
Jay County dominated every aspect of the game, including a season-best 29-of-54 (54 percent) shooting from the field. It won the rebounding battle 35-19, had 12 more assists than the Tigers and limited turnovers.
The big win marked the third time this season they Patriots have scored 70 or more points. They have posted at least 55 in every game, and their average margin of victory is more than 30 points.
"It's exciting to know there's so many things you need to work on and yet we've won six in a row," said Comer, who picked up his 175th career coaching victory. "We're just trying to get better each night, and I think we are.
"We did a good job the first half on the boards. Overall, it was a really good night. We beat a basketball team that's going to win a lot of games before it's all said and done."
Huge efforts off the bench helped power the Patriots, led by career nights from both Brittany Mann and Sharon Dirksen.
Mann caught fire from the field, hitting seven of her eight attempts for a career-best 17 points. Dirksen was strong underneath, hitting 4-of-5 from the field as she scored a career-high 11 points.
Both players were 3-for-4 at the foul line, Dirksen added seven rebounds and Mann had four boards and two assists.
"Confidence is huge," said Comer, noting that Mann was a key defensively in Friday's 24-4 fourth-quarter for a comeback win over previously unbeaten Norwell. "Coming off that game it snowballed. That really helped her tonight.
"I thought Dirk had a good game. She gives us that third post player that we've been looking for that can come in and give us positive minutes.
"I'm really pleased. I feel like we're just getting deeper and deeper."
Freshman Cara Garringer also came off the bench for a career highlight, scoring her first varsity points on her only field-goal attempt of the game. She buried a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter off a Mann assist.
Loy and Keller joined Mann and Dirksen in double figures as they each scored 10 points. Keller also matched Lindsey Wellman with a team-best three assists.
Huelskamp scored all of her nine points from 3-point range, and Edmundson was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field for eight points. Wellman grabbed a game-best nine rebounds.
Kyle, who hit the game-winning bucket against the Patriots a year ago, was the only threat for Bluffton most of the way as she scored 23 points. She was 8-of-20 from the field with three 3-pointers.
Osborne added eight points and six rebounds.
Junior varsity
Jay County scored in double digits in each of the first three quarters as it clobbered the Tigers 54-21.
Cara Garringer had 17 points for the Patriots, who were up by 15 after the opening period and 24 at halftime. Mackenzie Loy added seven points, and Jamie Klinger and Katie Butcher each added six.
Sarah Tullis was the leading scorer for Bluffton with five points. Laxi Garrett and Frannie Garrett each added three.[[In-content Ad]]
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