July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Jones, Panthers deny JC three-peat (02/14/05)
JCHS girls basketball
Jones, Panthers deny JC three-peat (02/14/05)
By By RAY COONEY-
ELWOOD — Starters Renae Laux and Sara Garringer, both of whom had fouled out, could only sit on the bench and watch. And on the court, even Jamie Bruggeman’s two 3-pointers in the final 1:16 were not enough to spark a comeback.
The Jay County Patriots kept the game closer than their 21-point regular season defeat, but were still denied a third straight sectional title 58-48 by the host Elwood Panthers.
Junior Kyleigh Jones made sure there would be no Jay County comeback, scoring six of her team’s final eight points. She finished with 20 as Elwood broke a 28-year sectional championship drought.
“That’s typical of Kyleigh. She’s done that all year for us,” said coach Shelly Renbarger of Elwood, which won its only other sectional title in 1976. “When we need it she gets to the foul line. We keep the ball in her hands. She’s just an outstanding player.”
The Panthers (20-3) advance to take on Fort Wayne Bishop Luers (21-2) Saturday at the Peru regional. Sixth-ranked Luers won its sectional title game 76-53 over New Haven.
Jay County (16-6) was in good shape at the half, trailing by just one point at 23-22. The lead had traded hands eight times in a well-played first half, but the number wouldn’t near that in the second half.
Playing as the visiting team on the scoreboard on its home floor, Elwood scored the first eight points after the intermission. It used just 1:40 to do so, finishing the quick run on a 3-pointer by freshman Shalynn Wright off an assist from Jones.
The Patriots managed a couple of buckets after a timeout to get back within five, but never got closer. Elwood pushed the lead to as many as 15 points with five and a half minutes to go, and Jones hit 6-of-8 free throws in the final 1:49 to seal the victory.
“I think we were kind of in a comfort zone coming into the second half,” said Comer. “I think we were comfortable with where we were. ... We didn’t keep the intensity we needed to keep. When you play a good team like Elwood a couple-minute stretch is the difference in the game.”
It was the fourth game this year in which Jay County gave up 50 or more points, all four of which resulted in losses.
“We knew we had to give them some things to get some things,” added Comer. “We left some people open, and we were going to make them hit shots. There in the second half they hit shots.
“We gambled, but we knew we had to gamble ... Unfortunately tonight the gamble didn’t pay off for us.”
Jones, who put up 27 points in the Panthers’ overtime semifinal victory over Delta Friday, scored 11 of her 20 points in the final period. She also had a team high of five assists while grabbing four rebounds.
She got plenty of help as sophomore Abbey Abner (12 points), sophomore Jessica Wright (10 points) and Shalynn Wright (10 points) all joined her in double figures.
Morgan Groover paced Elwood with nine rebounds, and Abner added seven. Jessica Wright notched four assists.
“Our two Wright girls struggled (Friday) night. Our two Wright girls won it for us tonight,” said Renbarger. “(Jay County) came out in the triangle-and-two and we busted it in the third quarter and finally got them out of their game plan.”
Bruggeman, whose four 3-pointers pushed her school-record single-season total to 40, scored in double figures in her third straight sectional championship game as she finished with 15 points. No other Patriot reached double digits.
Markie Runyon was next with nine points to go along with five rebounds. Laux added seven points before fouling out with 54 seconds to go, and Leah Gasparovic scored six.
Garringer, who followed out with 3:12 left in the game, scored five points and had a team-high seven boards.
Despite the loss, Jay County finished with its best record since posting a 19-3 mark in 1992-93.
“I’m very proud of the girls,” said Comer, saying good-bye to seniors Bruggeman, Laux, Gasparovic, Lisa Weitzel and Sarah Dirksen. “They had an outstanding season. We came up against a really good team tonight. Tonight they were the better team.”[[In-content Ad]]
The Jay County Patriots kept the game closer than their 21-point regular season defeat, but were still denied a third straight sectional title 58-48 by the host Elwood Panthers.
Junior Kyleigh Jones made sure there would be no Jay County comeback, scoring six of her team’s final eight points. She finished with 20 as Elwood broke a 28-year sectional championship drought.
“That’s typical of Kyleigh. She’s done that all year for us,” said coach Shelly Renbarger of Elwood, which won its only other sectional title in 1976. “When we need it she gets to the foul line. We keep the ball in her hands. She’s just an outstanding player.”
The Panthers (20-3) advance to take on Fort Wayne Bishop Luers (21-2) Saturday at the Peru regional. Sixth-ranked Luers won its sectional title game 76-53 over New Haven.
Jay County (16-6) was in good shape at the half, trailing by just one point at 23-22. The lead had traded hands eight times in a well-played first half, but the number wouldn’t near that in the second half.
Playing as the visiting team on the scoreboard on its home floor, Elwood scored the first eight points after the intermission. It used just 1:40 to do so, finishing the quick run on a 3-pointer by freshman Shalynn Wright off an assist from Jones.
The Patriots managed a couple of buckets after a timeout to get back within five, but never got closer. Elwood pushed the lead to as many as 15 points with five and a half minutes to go, and Jones hit 6-of-8 free throws in the final 1:49 to seal the victory.
“I think we were kind of in a comfort zone coming into the second half,” said Comer. “I think we were comfortable with where we were. ... We didn’t keep the intensity we needed to keep. When you play a good team like Elwood a couple-minute stretch is the difference in the game.”
It was the fourth game this year in which Jay County gave up 50 or more points, all four of which resulted in losses.
“We knew we had to give them some things to get some things,” added Comer. “We left some people open, and we were going to make them hit shots. There in the second half they hit shots.
“We gambled, but we knew we had to gamble ... Unfortunately tonight the gamble didn’t pay off for us.”
Jones, who put up 27 points in the Panthers’ overtime semifinal victory over Delta Friday, scored 11 of her 20 points in the final period. She also had a team high of five assists while grabbing four rebounds.
She got plenty of help as sophomore Abbey Abner (12 points), sophomore Jessica Wright (10 points) and Shalynn Wright (10 points) all joined her in double figures.
Morgan Groover paced Elwood with nine rebounds, and Abner added seven. Jessica Wright notched four assists.
“Our two Wright girls struggled (Friday) night. Our two Wright girls won it for us tonight,” said Renbarger. “(Jay County) came out in the triangle-and-two and we busted it in the third quarter and finally got them out of their game plan.”
Bruggeman, whose four 3-pointers pushed her school-record single-season total to 40, scored in double figures in her third straight sectional championship game as she finished with 15 points. No other Patriot reached double digits.
Markie Runyon was next with nine points to go along with five rebounds. Laux added seven points before fouling out with 54 seconds to go, and Leah Gasparovic scored six.
Garringer, who followed out with 3:12 left in the game, scored five points and had a team-high seven boards.
Despite the loss, Jay County finished with its best record since posting a 19-3 mark in 1992-93.
“I’m very proud of the girls,” said Comer, saying good-bye to seniors Bruggeman, Laux, Gasparovic, Lisa Weitzel and Sarah Dirksen. “They had an outstanding season. We came up against a really good team tonight. Tonight they were the better team.”[[In-content Ad]]
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