Patriots' Speed pays off

Sometimes one shot is all a player needs.

Pazia Speed didn't have her best game, struggling from the field much of the way as her Jay County Patriots battled the Muncie Central Bearcats. But with the game on the line, there was no question she would have the ball in her hands.

Speed made the most of her final opportunity, slicing through Central defense in the final six seconds and dropping in a lay-up as time expired to give JCHS a 42-41 victory.

"She knew she had to make a play," said Patriot coach Luke Cummings. "She just went and made a play. That's what we had to have.

"She had a big second half hitting some key jump shots that got us back in the game. She just kept playing. ...

"I thought she showed a lot of maturity tonight continuing to keep it together and continuing to keep the team together and pull through it and keep attacking like she needed to do."

In the closing moments, Jay County's only senior lived up to her last name.

Catching the inbound pass in the backcourt with 5.7 seconds on the clock, Speed was immediately swarmed. But the Muncie Central defenders did not do enough to slow her down.

Speed juked left and then broke through a double team and across the mid-court line. As her teammates cleared away, she hustled toward the basket.

She split between Bearcats Jamie Drummer and Taylor Rabel in the paint and let the ball go just before time expired. Her lay-up kissed off the glass and dropped through the net to give the Patriots the one-point win.

"You have to give (Speed) a lot of credit," said Central coach Kaye Harrell. "I mean, we had three people on her and she just still made her way (to the basket) and made a great shot. That just shows senior leadership. My hat's off to her for stepping up for her team."

The final play didn't go quite as the Patriots (7-2) drew it up. But Speed said she knew she had time to get the winning shot off.

"The plan was to get it inbounds to me and set two double screens for me," said Speed. "Right away I was double teamed, so we didn't really get the chance. I basically put my head down and dribbled all the way to the basket."

The opening half didn't go especially well for Jay County's leading scorer as she managed just four points while the team shot 32 percent from the field. But Speed hit a few key shots after the intermission leading up to the game-winner.

"It was amazing," said Speed, who finished with 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and a block. "I knew I had to keep my head up. It was really bad in the beginning. I had to keep shooting it and eventually they went in."

A 9-0 run by Central (2-5) had the Patriots staring at an eight-point deficit late in the first half, but the first buzzer-beater of the night started their comeback.

After a Bearcat miss with about six seconds to go, Kassi Hemmelgarn found Maria Murphy (five points, five rebounds) with a long pass and the sophomore scored as time expired.

Katie Butcher, who dealt with foul trouble in the first half, opened the second half with a driving lay-up followed by a 3-pointer from the left corner off a Speed assist to close the gap.

"Katie came in and really did a nice job being patient and still being able to attack," said Cummings. "It opened things up for the rest of them. Those were big shots.

"I thought Murphy really gave us a good second option tonight in the post. She kept battle for some rebounds and pulled down some big offensive rebounds that kept plays alive."

Jay County pulled even at 31 on a hoop by Speed, and then took the lead when she hit a 3-pointer. The squads went on to trade the lead six times in the final 9:14 of the game, with Drummer (13 points, six rebounds, five assists) nailing a pair of free throws to put Central up by one with 15 seconds to go.

The Patriots used two time-outs and nearly 10 seconds to get the ball across the half-court line, setting up Speed's winning play.

Mariah Hornaday matched Speed with 13 points, nine of which came in the first half. She also had seven rebounds as JCHS took a 28-19 advantage on the glass.

Ashley Fouch turned in a huge game for Central, shooting 8-of-11 from the field for 20 points. She hit three 3-pointers and grabbed four rebounds.

"I thought Ashley Fouch had a great game," said Harrell, who also got eight rebounds from Rabel "In some of her earlier games she kind of struggled, but tonight I thought she settled in and made some really good decisions and played some great defense.

"It's a very tough way to lose a game, but I'm very proud of our kids," said Harrell, who also got eight rebounds from Rabel. "We had a great effort from beginning to end. I thought they battled very hard. I saw some real strides."

Junior varsity

The Patriots shut out Central in the second quarter and rolled to a 31-11 victory.

Mollie May finished with nine points for Jay County, which built an 18-2 halftime lead. Shelby Shirk scored nine points, and LeAnn Horn added four.

Ashley Puckett had seven points for the Bearcats.[[In-content Ad]]