Panthers pounce (02/12/07)

GAS CITY - It happened in a hurry.

Jay County's girls basketball team seemed ready to take command Saturday, using a 10-0 run over a span of three minutes to grab a nine-point, second-quarter lead. But it took the Patriots nearly a full quarter before they made another field goal as everything fell apart in a 68-48 loss to the Elwood Panthers in the Class 3A sectional championship game at Mississinewa.

What was an exciting back-and-forth battle for the first 12 minutes turned into a blowout as Elwood took control in every phase of the game with a pair of seniors leading the way.

Jessica Wright finished 15-of-18 from the foul line, scored 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out nine assists. Samantha Starcher, who had just two points and one rebound in the regular-season meeting, racked up 20 points and 13 rebounds Saturday.

"It was totally different from the first time we played," said Elwood coach Shelly Renbarger, whose team advances to the regional tournament at Peru to play Wawasee (19-3). "(Starcher) came out focused, our whole team did. We have prepared for Jay County since the time we got beat by them. The first day back after Christmas break we started preparing for them."

After Jay County (13-9) went on its 10-0 run in the second quarter, the Panthers responded with 10 straight points of their own to close the half and reclaim a 28-27 lead. But it didn't end there.

Elwood added the first five points of the second half and turned in a 20-1 run overall - only a Whitney Homan free throw broke up the Panther points - to push ahead 40-28.

The Patriots finally made a field goal as Kaelee Keller converted a 3-pointer from a Nicole Pfeifer assist with 3:03 to go in the third, and managed to get within striking distance at 49-40 in the fourth quarter after a 3-point play by Lindsey Wellman.

But that was as close as it got, as Elwood scored the next 11 points in a row and led by as many as 25.

Wright's foul-shooting effort led a dominant night at the line for the Panthers. They constantly attacked the basket - they shot only five 3-pointers - and were rewarded with 42 free-throw attempts, of which they made 29.

Junior Shalynn Wright hit 6-of-7 foul shots and scored 11 points, and Kelsey Whitson and Abbey Abner added eight points apiece.

"Jessie showed up great for us," said Renbarger. "She played a whale of a game. I think the whole team played a whale of a game. We got to the free throw line ... we read their defenses ... I just think we played well tonight."

Jay County took nearly half of its shots (25-of-54) from long distance, earning just 12 free throw attempts. The Patriots were also dominated at the line in the semifinals as they shot just five free throws to Tipton's 23.

"That's huge," said JCHS coach Kirk Comer. "We're not getting the ball inside and we're not going to the line and we're relying a lot on the 3-point stripe. ... And we're a team that shoots a lot of 3-pointers and we do count on 3-pointers, but you've got to have inside-outside.

"You can't just pass it around the outside and shoot threes. You've got to go in and come back out in order to get your open looks, and we just didn't do a very good job of that tonight."

After hitting better than 50 percent from long distance in the sectional-opening win over Blackford, Jay County went for 31 percent Friday and just 7-of-25 (28 percent) against Elwood.

In the meantime, the Panthers shot 18-of-38 (47 percent) on their two-point shots and constantly grabbed rebounds off their misses. They finished with 12 offensive boards and a 44-28 advantage on the glass overall.

Following Starcher and Wright on the glass were Abner with eight rebounds and Whitson with five. The team high for the Patriots was six from Shelby Rines.

"Elwood is one of the best teams we've seen that crashes the offensive boards, and we knew that. And our goal was to come in and play them even on the boards," said Comer. "If we could have stayed close with them on the glass I think it could have been a different game, but we just didn't box out very well at times. They're so aggressive. That's was definitely the difference in the game."

Jay County also played much of the game without freshman post player Lindsey Wellman, who had 17 points and seven rebounds versus the Panthers in the regular season.

She picked up her second and third fouls within a span of 34 seconds midway through the second quarter, then got her fourth less than two minutes after halftime. She played for less than five minutes total in the second half before fouling out with 4:53 to play.

"We knew as soon as she got the three fouls that opened us up to be able to get out to their guards," said Renbarger. "We didn't have to worry as much about their inside game. That helped us tremendously."

Sophomore Kaelee Keller's 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting were a team-high for the Patriots. Sara Garringer hit three 3-pointers and followed with 11 points.[[In-content Ad]]