July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Montgomery carries Union City past Patriots (12/05/05)
JCHS girls basketball
Montgomery carries Union City past Patriots (12/05/05)
By By RAY COONEY-
UNION CITY — Several football state championship games were played in Ohio Saturday. There were no such season finales in Indiana, in any sport. But don’t tell that to the Union City Indians.
Union City was clearly geared up for its girls basketball game against visiting Jay County, its collective attitude worthy of a big-time tournament tilt. And it paid off for the Indians as they defeated their former coach and his Patriots 42-39.
“I’m so excited,” said Shawndrea Montgomery, who carried the Indians to the victory by scoring more than half their points. “We came out a little shaky ... I just feel we really executed. That was our main thing, just to execute, be patient, and everything else came into play.”
Union City coach Keith Fields was beaming after watching his team top the squad led by Comer, who coached the Indians from 1999 to 2004.
“Oh my gosh, I just told the girls I was a little bit speechless,” said Fields. “I don’t know what to say. I mean, you talk about an effort. I can’t say enough about the seniors stepping up and really doing the job.
“There’s always a lot of motivation there,” he added of his juniors and seniors playing against their former coach for the first time at Union City. “I thought we were able to settle down and play. I think we just proved a little bit of what we’re made of.”
Montgomery was easily the Indians’ chief.
She slaughtered the Patriots in the paint, finishing with 22 points and 14 rebounds. She scored 11 of her team’s 16 points in the fourth quarter.
The senior repeatedly made it to the foul line, hitting 10 of her 14 free-throw attempts while Jay County was just 7-of-12 as a team.
“I’m proud,” said Montgomery. “Once I get in the post I feel like as long as they get me the ball I should be able to do the rest for them.”
“When she’s on her game and she plays hard she’s very hard to stop,” agreed Fields. “I’m just so proud of the seniors and how they stepped up. They just did such a great job for us.”
Montgomery grabbed many of her rebounds on the offensive end, leading the Indians to a 41-30 advantage on the glass.
“What really hurt us was we were giving up offensive rebounds like crazy,” said Comer. “If we just box out a couple of possessions there the outcome might be different. When you’re giving three or four opportunities, sooner or later they’re going to score.
“We were not mentally tough today at all, and I’m very disappointed in the way we played. We played on our heels the whole game. Union City was the more aggressive team, and the outcome shows it.”
Jay County (5-3) still had chances to win or force overtime, but its final three possessions typified its game — especially the second half.
Trailing by one, Markie Runyon had the ball for the Patriots near the free throw line and looked to get it to Chelsea DeBoy underneath the basketball. The pass went scooting out of DeBoy’s reach out of bounds.
After a pair of Montgomery free throws widened the Indians’ advantage, Theresa Reinhart missed a 3-pointer from the right corner. The rebound rolled out of bounds on the right side despite a diving effort by Cassandra Huelskamp to save it.
Then, after Jade Hill missed two free throws with 6.1 seconds to go, Runyon grabbed the rebound and fed the ball to Dana Horn. She pushed the ball up the court, looking for Huelskamp, Reinhart or Sara Garringer to shoot a 3-pointer. She passed to Garringer in the left corner, but the ball squirted through the junior’s hands and landed out of bounds as time expired.
The Patriots finished just 2-of-22 (9 percent) from 3-point range. They had 22 turnovers.
“We wanted to attack the middle and at least get a three off,” said Comer of the final play. “Our spacing wasn’t very good, and we weren’t able to get the shot off. But, that was the plan.
“... It’s my job to get them ready, and for whatever reason, we weren’t ready today ... We just made mistakes and missed shots that we just don’t miss. That just comes down to mental toughness.”
The biggest problems came in the third quarter, when Jay County was an abysmal 1-of-14 (7 percent) from the field and scored just four points.
Runyon and Horn were the only Patriots to provide any kind of offense.
Runyon went 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from the line to score a team-high 14 points. Horn had success with the fast break as she and Runyon led an 11-2 run over the final five minutes of the opening half, scoring all of her career-high eight points before the intermission.
Garringer and DeBoy had five points apiece.
Kaywin Lawrence followed Montgomery for Union City with nine points. Abby Doppler had seven points and nine rebounds.
Junior varsity
Jay County outscored the Indians by eight points in each of the first three quarters on the way to a 48-24 victory.
Amber Edmundson led a trio of Patriots in double figures with 14 points. Brittany Mann added 12 points, and Sarah Westgerdes finished with 10.
Chantie Candy was the top scorer for Union City with six points. Three other Indian players scored four points apiece.[[In-content Ad]]
Union City was clearly geared up for its girls basketball game against visiting Jay County, its collective attitude worthy of a big-time tournament tilt. And it paid off for the Indians as they defeated their former coach and his Patriots 42-39.
“I’m so excited,” said Shawndrea Montgomery, who carried the Indians to the victory by scoring more than half their points. “We came out a little shaky ... I just feel we really executed. That was our main thing, just to execute, be patient, and everything else came into play.”
Union City coach Keith Fields was beaming after watching his team top the squad led by Comer, who coached the Indians from 1999 to 2004.
“Oh my gosh, I just told the girls I was a little bit speechless,” said Fields. “I don’t know what to say. I mean, you talk about an effort. I can’t say enough about the seniors stepping up and really doing the job.
“There’s always a lot of motivation there,” he added of his juniors and seniors playing against their former coach for the first time at Union City. “I thought we were able to settle down and play. I think we just proved a little bit of what we’re made of.”
Montgomery was easily the Indians’ chief.
She slaughtered the Patriots in the paint, finishing with 22 points and 14 rebounds. She scored 11 of her team’s 16 points in the fourth quarter.
The senior repeatedly made it to the foul line, hitting 10 of her 14 free-throw attempts while Jay County was just 7-of-12 as a team.
“I’m proud,” said Montgomery. “Once I get in the post I feel like as long as they get me the ball I should be able to do the rest for them.”
“When she’s on her game and she plays hard she’s very hard to stop,” agreed Fields. “I’m just so proud of the seniors and how they stepped up. They just did such a great job for us.”
Montgomery grabbed many of her rebounds on the offensive end, leading the Indians to a 41-30 advantage on the glass.
“What really hurt us was we were giving up offensive rebounds like crazy,” said Comer. “If we just box out a couple of possessions there the outcome might be different. When you’re giving three or four opportunities, sooner or later they’re going to score.
“We were not mentally tough today at all, and I’m very disappointed in the way we played. We played on our heels the whole game. Union City was the more aggressive team, and the outcome shows it.”
Jay County (5-3) still had chances to win or force overtime, but its final three possessions typified its game — especially the second half.
Trailing by one, Markie Runyon had the ball for the Patriots near the free throw line and looked to get it to Chelsea DeBoy underneath the basketball. The pass went scooting out of DeBoy’s reach out of bounds.
After a pair of Montgomery free throws widened the Indians’ advantage, Theresa Reinhart missed a 3-pointer from the right corner. The rebound rolled out of bounds on the right side despite a diving effort by Cassandra Huelskamp to save it.
Then, after Jade Hill missed two free throws with 6.1 seconds to go, Runyon grabbed the rebound and fed the ball to Dana Horn. She pushed the ball up the court, looking for Huelskamp, Reinhart or Sara Garringer to shoot a 3-pointer. She passed to Garringer in the left corner, but the ball squirted through the junior’s hands and landed out of bounds as time expired.
The Patriots finished just 2-of-22 (9 percent) from 3-point range. They had 22 turnovers.
“We wanted to attack the middle and at least get a three off,” said Comer of the final play. “Our spacing wasn’t very good, and we weren’t able to get the shot off. But, that was the plan.
“... It’s my job to get them ready, and for whatever reason, we weren’t ready today ... We just made mistakes and missed shots that we just don’t miss. That just comes down to mental toughness.”
The biggest problems came in the third quarter, when Jay County was an abysmal 1-of-14 (7 percent) from the field and scored just four points.
Runyon and Horn were the only Patriots to provide any kind of offense.
Runyon went 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from the line to score a team-high 14 points. Horn had success with the fast break as she and Runyon led an 11-2 run over the final five minutes of the opening half, scoring all of her career-high eight points before the intermission.
Garringer and DeBoy had five points apiece.
Kaywin Lawrence followed Montgomery for Union City with nine points. Abby Doppler had seven points and nine rebounds.
Junior varsity
Jay County outscored the Indians by eight points in each of the first three quarters on the way to a 48-24 victory.
Amber Edmundson led a trio of Patriots in double figures with 14 points. Brittany Mann added 12 points, and Sarah Westgerdes finished with 10.
Chantie Candy was the top scorer for Union City with six points. Three other Indian players scored four points apiece.[[In-content Ad]]
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