Jay triumphs in game laden with turnovers (01/19/05)

PORTLAND — One coach was relatively happy, and one wasn’t. And those feelings didn’t correspond with who won and who lost.

Jay County handed South Adams its 20th straight defeat Tuesday, 59-44, but Starfire coach Doug Beall was more upbeat after the game than his Patriot counterpart.

“Jay County is a pretty good team, and we chipped and clawed ...,” said Beall, who referred to the game as the second moral victory for his team this year. “We just sucked it up and played. This is the way we have to play the rest of the year to be successful.”

The way they played was with a reckless abandon — turning the ball over in bunches, but also forcing the Patriots into those same mistakes.

The Starfires (0-13) trailed by as many as 23 points in the second half. They never got close enough to threaten a Jay County victory, but did pullwithin 13 points as they forced 19 second-half turnovers.

The game overall was a clinic on how to give the ball away as each team finished with 32 turnovers — one per squad per minute. About half of those give-aways came on traveling calls.

Patriot coach Kirk Comer, whose team plays at New Castle (6-7) today, was willing to take the blame for much of the game’s ugly style. But, he also said his team needs to learn to bring the same attitude to every contest, regardless of the opponent’s record.

“A lot of things we did tonight were (because) we had a lot of different combinations (on the floor) at different times,” said Comer, who used every player on his bench. “Maybe I went to that a little bit early and pulled the press off a little early.

“It just didn’t seem like we were playing with much intensity.”

Jay County (11-4) was in control despite the game’s wild fashion. It led 10-8 early before grabbing the advantage after a Starfire timeout with 2:41 to play in the first quarter.

Jamie Bruggeman started a 10-0 Patriot run, scoring six seconds after the timeout and adding a steal and lay-up just moments later. Renae Laux posted the next two baskets, and Chelsea DeBoy scored on an assist from Bruggeman for a 20-8 lead after one period.

South Adams scored the first two points of the second quarter, but Jay County notched the next six. The first four of those came on put-back hoops by Runyon as the advantage expanded to 26-10.

The Patriots led 35-17 at halftime and pushed the lead to 23 points midway through the third quarter.

The Starfires rallied to within 13 in the fourth, getting three consecutive 3-pointers — two by Kindle Inniger and one from Erin McCollum.

“We’ve got to be consistent,” said Beall of what it will take to turn moral victories into wins. “We’ve got three conference games, two at home. We have a chance to ruin some team’s seasons here before sectional and get some momentum for ourselves.”

Bruggeman continued in her role as the leading scorer for Jay County, hitting 3-of-4 3-pointers and shooting 5-of-7 overall for 13 points. Theresa Reinhart went 5-of-6 for 10 points as the Patriots shot 51 percent from the field.

Lisa Weitzel and Laux each added seven points.

Runyon had a game-high seven rebounds, and Sara Garringer dished out six assists.

Inniger shot 5-of-7 from long distance for South Adams as she scored a game-best 19 points. Natalie Haines was the No. 2 scorer with five points, and JoLyn Yoder and Julie Muhlenkamp each grabbed five rebounds.

Junior varsity

Jay County was dominant in the JV game, allowing South Adams no more than four points in a quarter for a 52-12 victory.

Cassandra Huelskamp led the Patriots with 15 points, including four 3-pointers. Three of those came consecutively to start a third quarter in which Jay County outscored the Starfires 19-2.

Miranda Betz added six points, and Nicole Pfeifer and Katie Runyon each had five points.

Holly Kaup scored four points for South Adams, and Andrea Moser added three.[[In-content Ad]]