July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.

Patriots take OAC title (01/17/05)

JCHS girls basketball
Patriots take OAC title (01/17/05)
Patriots take OAC title (01/17/05)

By By RAY COONEY-

PORTLAND — The 2004-05 Jay County girls basketball team is on pace to post the best record in a decade. And, it’s already accomplished something no Patriot team has ever done before.

Jay County secured its first Olympic Athletic Conference championship in school history Saturday with a 40-32 win over the Connersville Spartans.

Perhaps even more importantly, the victory ended a three-game losing streak for the Patriots.

They topped Connersville the way they have many teams this year, grabbing an early lead and doing enough down the stretch to grind out a win. The Spartans got within five points in the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 15, but Jay County held them scoreless in the final minute and made enough free throws to hold on.

“Early in the fourth quarter we made some careless turnovers,” said first-year Patriot coach Kirk Comer. “Later in the game when our backs were against the wall we made the plays. This just seems like a team that has been able to do that all year long.

“They didn’t fold when they could have, and they played like a veteran team down the stretch.”

A couple of seniors paced Jay County, with Jamie Bruggeman scoring a team-high 11 points. Bruggeman, the team’s leading scorer was coming off a game two days earlier in which she went without a point against Huntington North.

Senior Lisa Weitzel drained a 3-pointer in each of the first three quarters, scoring all of her nine points as she finished 3-of-4 from long distance.

“We’ve got girls who can shoot the threes,” said Comer, whose team finished 6-of-11 from beyond the arc as it also got 3-pointers from senior Renae Laux and sophomore Sara Garringer. “You’ve just got to get them shots and they’ve got to recognize the shots.”

The Patriots (9-4, 3-0 OAC) weren’t as good from short range, making just seven of their 21 2-point attempts. But they hit enough to get the win, with Laux, Garringer and Markie Runyon each chipping in six points.

Runyon had a game-high of seven rebounds, and Garringer dished out four assists.

Without Mindy Cooper on the floor, Kristin Malone tried her best to lead Connersville back as she scored 12 of her game-high 16 points after the intermission. She rallied after going 0-for-6 in the first quarter, accounting for all of her team’s field goal attempts.

The Spartans (7-7, 1-1 OAC) managed just two first-quarter points, and didn’t hit a field goal until the 5:34 mark of the second quarter. They fell behind 28-15, but finished the third quarter on a 7-0 run.

They pulled to within five points on a couple of occasions, but couldn’t get closer.

“I thought we hung in there,” said Connersville coach Larry Miller. “Give them credit, they played well also. It seemed like every time we made a run they would hit a big three.”

Miller said his team struggled to find its identity with Cooper — one of the team’s top players along with Malone — sitting on the bench in street clothes. He said he felt Malone tried to take too much control early on and didn’t let her game flow.

Cooper is out after being injured in a car accident Tuesday. She has no physical injuries keeping her off the floor, but suffered head trauma and is experiencing memory loss.

“She handles the ball 90 percent of the time,” said Miller, emphasizing that Cooper’s health is far more important than basketball games. “She’s a Division I player.

“We were real passive early in the ball game. I thought in the second half we did a better job of putting the ball on the floor and trying to drive the gaps and get to the basket.”

Kati Rambo was the No. 2 scorer for Connersville with nine points, but no other player had more than three. Tiffany Bertsch and Julie Hamm each grabbed six rebounds, and Bertsch added three assists.

Junior varsity

Jay County’s junior varsity team lost for just the second time this season by a 28-27 score to Connersville.

The game was tied at 27 with 24.7 seconds remaining, but a Whitney Homan shot went off the mark for the Patriots. Chelsea Flaugh grabbed the rebound for Connersville, and Taylor Isaacs eventually made one of two free throws with 8.2 seconds to go.

Jay County got one more chance, but had trouble getting the ball up the floor and didn’t get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.

Homan and Cassandra Huelskamp each scored six points for the Patriots. Abby Loy and Brittany O’Dell each had four points.

Isaacs paced the Spartans with seven points. Kindsey Myers had six points.

Freshmen

The Jay County freshman team remained perfect with a 24-17 victory over the Spartans.

The Patriots trailed by one after the first quarter, but took a 7-2 advantage in the second for a four-point halftime lead. They outscored Connersville in each of the final two periods to take the win.

Dana Horn and Amber Edmundson shared the team high of seven points. Sharon Dirksen scored three points.

Sarah French had eight points for the Spartans, and Kelly Rusterholz added three.[[In-content Ad]]
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