Patriots hold off Coldwater (12/08/03)

PORTLAND — For the Jay County girls basketball team it’s nice to be on the other side of the equation for a change.

During the past two season if one team shot 7-of-22 from the free throw line and the other was 13-for-19, the Patriots were on the low end. This year the foul shooting has improved and it helped them squeak out a 43-39 victory over the Coldwater Cavaliers Saturday.

Jay County (5-3) was aided by a streak of seven straight free throw misses by the Cavaliers to start the fourth quarter.

“It makes us realize how important free throw shooting is,” said Sarah Dirksen, who went 4-of-6 from the line in the victory.

“The kids have been shooting free throws well,” said Jay County coach Lea Selvey, while he also recalled Renae Laux’s free throw difficulties in Tuesday’s 52-51 loss to the Bluffton Tigers. “Today in a crucial situation she hit them. She spent a little extra time on free throws this week because (missing against Bluffton) bothered her.”

Laux, who was 1-of-5 at the line against the Tigers, drilled a pair of foul shots with two seconds left to end Coldwater’s comeback hopes. They accounted for her only two points of the contest.

The Patriots controlled the contest for the first 20 minutes, starting the game on a 10-2 run and holding a 21-14 lead at the half. They pushed the advantage to 27-17 when Dirksen put back her own miss three minutes into the second half.

But, Coldwater coach Nick Fisher called a timeout and his team came to life.

The Cavaliers mounted a comeback, first getting two free throws from Kelly Obringer and then a couple of second-chance buckets by Betsy Homan. A 3-pointer by Ashley Geier pulled them to within one point, and Amanda Harting gave her team the lead with a basket on an assist from Renee Hemmelgarn to complete an 11-0 run.

The run got Coldwater back in the game, but Jay County answered by getting back to the glass and earning some foul shots. Sarah Dirksen and Markie Runyon scored all of the Patriots points in a 7-0 run to regain a 34-28 lead, and the Patriots held on until the closing minute.

Coldwater (1-2) had an opportunity as it inbounded the ball underneath its own basket with five seconds to play, but Brittany Firks’ long 3-point attempt rimmed out, and Laux grabbed the rebound and converted her free throws on the other end.

“We needed to box out more,” said Runyon of stopping the Cavalier rally. “Everybody needed to find a man.

“I thought we played really well as a team.”

“We had a hard practice (Friday) and came out and played hard today,” added Dirksen.

Runyon and Dirksen shared the game high with 12 points apiece. Runyon grabbed seven rebounds and came up big defensively with four blocked shots, while Dirksen had six rebounds.

Jamie Bruggeman came away with nine points, seven rebounds and two assists, and Lindsay Friddle had eight points. Laux finished with five rebounds and two assists.

Fisher said that while foul shooting jumps off the page, his team is going through a lot of growing pains early in its season.

“I think even in the first half our offensive continuity wasn’t as good as it could have been,” he said. “This is our third game of the year and this is my first year, so there are a lot of things that are new.”

Katie Homan scored eight points and had nine rebounds to lead the Cavaliers. Harting also had eight points while dishing out two assists.

Jay County will play again at home Tuesday as it hosts Olympic Athletic Conference rival Anderson Highland at 6:30 p.m.

Junior varsity

Sara Garringer went wild for the Jay County junior varsity squad, scoring 26 points in a 39-30 victory over Coldwater Saturday.

The Patriots built a seven-point lead at halftime, and increased the margin to 10 after three quarters as they cruised to the victory.

Chelsea DeBoy followed Garringer with five points. Amber Champ and Natasha Stout each had four.

Brooke Gross led Coldwater with seven points, and Kylie Lefeld added six.[[In-content Ad]]