July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Patriots hold off Bellmont (11/18/06)
JCHS girls basketball
Patriots hold off Bellmont (11/18/06)
By By RAY COONEY-
The Patriots got one back.
Many of the losses for the 2005-06 Jay County girls basketball team came in close games against good teams. This year, one of coach Kirk Comer's big goals was to turn some of those close losses into close wins.
His team converted the first Friday night, building a double-digit lead and holding off the Bellmont Squaws for a 48-41 victory.
"Bellmont's a very good team," said Comer, whose team lost to the Squaws by the same margin a year ago but is now off to a 2-0 start. "They're very well-coached, they're very scrappy. They play very hard. Any time you can beat a (Bellmont coach) Lou Koning team, I'm pleased."
Jay County led by as many as 15 points late in the third quarter, but struggled in the fourth as the Squaws (1-2) used a 12-4 run to pull within 42-37 with 2:11 to play. The Patriots still didn't score another field goal - they had just one in the final period - but Sara Garringer hit six free throws, including four in the final 14.2, to seal the victory.
Garringer was lethal from the line where she finished 8-for-8 en route to her game-high 17 points for the Patriots, who struggled to just 32 percent shooting from the field. But their defense was enough to get the job done.
"We had way too many (turnovers)," said Koning. "We try to convince them to do pass fakes and ball fakes and we don't get that done much. And then they get in too big a hurry and they throw bad passes. And you can't win if you do that."
Koning's Squaws finished with 28 turnovers, 16 of which came before the intermission. Despite those first-half miscues, Bellmont was still down just seven at the break thanks to 53-percent shooting from the field.
But after Bellmont scored the opening bucket after the intermission, Jay County went on a 9-0 run with Garringer contributing five of the points. Cindi Miller broke the six-minute scoring drought for the Squaws with a put-back at the 1:38 mark, but Whitney Homan immediately responded with a 3-pointer off an assist from fellow senior Theresa Reinhart.
The triple pushed the Patriots' lead to 38-23 before Bellmont had its run in the fourth quarter.
"I think the depth of our team is something that's going to be a great strength for us," said Comer. "I thought we were fresher in the third quarter than they were. ... We can really mix some things up and put some different looks out there. ... We switch our defenses up a lot, and I think it keeps them off balance."
While the defense provided turnovers, the Patriots had a balanced scoring effort behind Garringer. Homan followed with seven points, Reinhart had five and Dana Horn, Nicole Pfeifer, Lindsay Wellman and Kaelee Keller each added four.
Wellman posted team highs of six rebounds and two assists, and Garringer also had a pair of assists. Homan and Pfeifer each grabbed five boards.
Kylee Ehrsam was the lone Squaw in double figures with 11 points. Breigh Elder had nine points, and Cindi Miller totaled eight points and nine rebounds.
Koning said his team improved in the second half, "a little bit, but still, the decisions we make at times aren't very good. It's frustrating to make as many turnovers as we do when there was pressure, but there wasn't that much pressure. ...
"You can't win games in the second half if you get down early. The last two ball games we've found that out."
Junior varsity
Jay County racked up more points in the first quarter than the Squaws did in the first three combined to take a 52-33 victory.
Sharon Dirksen had 10 points to lead the Patriots (2-0), who were up 19-5 after the first six minutes. Brittany Mann, Pazia Speed and Sarah Westgerdes each added eight points.
Chelsea Dick scored all of Bellmont's 17 fourth-quarter points and finished with a game-high 29.
Freshman
After posting just three first-half points, the Patriots rallied to win 26-21 over Bellmont.
Jay County trailed 8-3 at halftime and was still down by three heading into the final period, but outscored the Squaws 13-5 in the fourth quarter. Shelby Gierhart led the victory with 16 points, and Brittany Muhlenkamp added four.
Kayla Meyer and Brittany Sanders led Bellmont with six and five points respectively.[[In-content Ad]]
Many of the losses for the 2005-06 Jay County girls basketball team came in close games against good teams. This year, one of coach Kirk Comer's big goals was to turn some of those close losses into close wins.
His team converted the first Friday night, building a double-digit lead and holding off the Bellmont Squaws for a 48-41 victory.
"Bellmont's a very good team," said Comer, whose team lost to the Squaws by the same margin a year ago but is now off to a 2-0 start. "They're very well-coached, they're very scrappy. They play very hard. Any time you can beat a (Bellmont coach) Lou Koning team, I'm pleased."
Jay County led by as many as 15 points late in the third quarter, but struggled in the fourth as the Squaws (1-2) used a 12-4 run to pull within 42-37 with 2:11 to play. The Patriots still didn't score another field goal - they had just one in the final period - but Sara Garringer hit six free throws, including four in the final 14.2, to seal the victory.
Garringer was lethal from the line where she finished 8-for-8 en route to her game-high 17 points for the Patriots, who struggled to just 32 percent shooting from the field. But their defense was enough to get the job done.
"We had way too many (turnovers)," said Koning. "We try to convince them to do pass fakes and ball fakes and we don't get that done much. And then they get in too big a hurry and they throw bad passes. And you can't win if you do that."
Koning's Squaws finished with 28 turnovers, 16 of which came before the intermission. Despite those first-half miscues, Bellmont was still down just seven at the break thanks to 53-percent shooting from the field.
But after Bellmont scored the opening bucket after the intermission, Jay County went on a 9-0 run with Garringer contributing five of the points. Cindi Miller broke the six-minute scoring drought for the Squaws with a put-back at the 1:38 mark, but Whitney Homan immediately responded with a 3-pointer off an assist from fellow senior Theresa Reinhart.
The triple pushed the Patriots' lead to 38-23 before Bellmont had its run in the fourth quarter.
"I think the depth of our team is something that's going to be a great strength for us," said Comer. "I thought we were fresher in the third quarter than they were. ... We can really mix some things up and put some different looks out there. ... We switch our defenses up a lot, and I think it keeps them off balance."
While the defense provided turnovers, the Patriots had a balanced scoring effort behind Garringer. Homan followed with seven points, Reinhart had five and Dana Horn, Nicole Pfeifer, Lindsay Wellman and Kaelee Keller each added four.
Wellman posted team highs of six rebounds and two assists, and Garringer also had a pair of assists. Homan and Pfeifer each grabbed five boards.
Kylee Ehrsam was the lone Squaw in double figures with 11 points. Breigh Elder had nine points, and Cindi Miller totaled eight points and nine rebounds.
Koning said his team improved in the second half, "a little bit, but still, the decisions we make at times aren't very good. It's frustrating to make as many turnovers as we do when there was pressure, but there wasn't that much pressure. ...
"You can't win games in the second half if you get down early. The last two ball games we've found that out."
Junior varsity
Jay County racked up more points in the first quarter than the Squaws did in the first three combined to take a 52-33 victory.
Sharon Dirksen had 10 points to lead the Patriots (2-0), who were up 19-5 after the first six minutes. Brittany Mann, Pazia Speed and Sarah Westgerdes each added eight points.
Chelsea Dick scored all of Bellmont's 17 fourth-quarter points and finished with a game-high 29.
Freshman
After posting just three first-half points, the Patriots rallied to win 26-21 over Bellmont.
Jay County trailed 8-3 at halftime and was still down by three heading into the final period, but outscored the Squaws 13-5 in the fourth quarter. Shelby Gierhart led the victory with 16 points, and Brittany Muhlenkamp added four.
Kayla Meyer and Brittany Sanders led Bellmont with six and five points respectively.[[In-content Ad]]
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