JC feasts on Mississinewa (11/26/2008)

For the Patriots, Tuesday's game was mostly just about getting to the final buzzer.

Jay County High School's girls basketball team needed less than six minutes to build a 23-2 lead on the way to handing the Mississinewa Indians a 79-15 thrashing.

Now JCHS (5-0) can turn its full attention to the Class 3A No. 7 Norwell Knights (3-0), who they will visit Friday night.

"We've got to start focusing on Norwell ... and come in tomorrow, have a good practice and be ready," said Patriot coach Kirk Comer, who said in the preseason that the Knights might be the best team on their schedule. "They have all the tools. They have a center that is very good. They can shoot. They're a very good pressing team."

Jay County didn't need to press to torture the Indians, forcing 12 first-quarter turnovers in their regular defense. All of the steals led to easy baskets, with senior guard Kaelee Keller hitting three of the Patriots' first four.

During one stretch JCHS scored 19 straight points, capped by an Erin Hunt 3-pointer with 2:15 left in the first quarter. The home team held a 23-point lead after the first eight minutes, was up by 33 at the intermission and scored the first 11 points of the second half.

"I thought the girls showed maturity," said Comer of his team putting the game away in a hurry. "We came out and played at our level.

"I think we did play with some intensity early and there in the third quarter."

Jay County remained 15th in the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association poll voting this week despite having two double-digit wins over state-ranked teams. However, it did jump to No. 1 overall in the state in the Sagarin Ratings.

Keller scored eight of her game-high 12 points in the opening period, in which the Patriots racked up 23 field-goal attempts compared to just five for Mississinewa (2-3). She also had five points and four assists.

Hunt matched Keller with 12 points as she shot 4-of-6 from 3-point range. It was the first double-digit scoring game of the sophomore's career.

"(Hunt) is a very good shooter," said Comer. "We're going to count on her a lot. Her defense just keeps getting better and better. ... She's working really hard on that."

Lindsey Wellman and Cara Garringer also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively. Pazia Speed added eight, and Brittany Mann and Gina Muhlenkamp each chipped in seven.

Wellman added seven assists, seven rebounds and two blocks, Mackenzie Loy grabbed five rebounds and Speed added four assists.

JCHS finished with a 39-23 rebounding advantage. It also had 21 assists on 31 field goals.

With nearly a 50-point lead, Comer cleared his bench with about three minutes left in the third quarter.

Danielle Link totaled four points and four rebounds, Maria Murphy had three points and Katie Butcher scored two.

"We wanted to try to get some confidence in some girls," said Comer.

"I thought we did that with some girls tonight. And we gave some girls an opportunity to play that don't normally get to play a lot."

Mississinewa was limited to five points or fewer in every quarter, hitting just two field goals in the second half. It turned the ball over 36 times, and had as many fouls as it did points.

Sophomore Jennifer McCoin's six points were a team high, but they came on 3-of-11 shooting. Kaitlin Linn grabbed six rebounds.

The Indians, who won their opening two games of the season, but have now lost three straight, finished at just 19 percent (6-of-33) from the field and made only one of their 11 3-point attempts.

Junior varsity

Jay County recorded a shutout first quarter on the way to a dominating 58-17 victory over the Indians.

Kassi Hemmelgarn scored 14 points for the Patriots, who were up 19-0 after the first six minutes. They outscored Mississinewa 13-3 in the second quarter and rolled to the 41-point win.

Danielle Link added nine points for JCHS, and Laura Castillo and Katie Butcher each added seven.

Jessica Richards was the high scorer for the Indians with five points. Amy Jackson and Courtlynd Scott each scored three points.[[In-content Ad]]