Pats smack Howe (01/27/05)

INDIANAPOLIS — The question for the Hornets was not Howe they were going to score, but rather if they would. They eventually did, but it didn’t matter.

The Jay County Patriots held the home team without a point in the first quarter and cruised to a 73-17 win over the Indianapolis Howe Hornets Wednesday.

It took Jay County (12-5) just two seconds to score its first points as Markie Runyon tipped to Sara Garringer, who passed to Jamie Bruggeman for an easy lay-up. That play would be typical of the game, and especially the first quarter.

By the time Howe (2-13) called a timeout 3:11 into the game, the Patriots had put up 15 points. Bruggeman was in on all of them, scoring eight points and assisting on the other three baskets — mostly lay-ups.

During that same span the Hornets turned the ball over seven times. They attempted just one field goal, which was easily blocked by Runyon.

“One of the things we were wanting to do was get a quick start, because we haven’t been able to get a quick start the last few games,” said Jay County coach Kirk Comer. “I thought we got a lot more shots up, which we need to do. Our shot production increased by about 10 to 15 from what we’ve been getting.”

Howe had a chance to score just after the timeout, but Leona Woodson missed a couple of free throws. The Patriots added 12 more points before the first-quarter buzzer for a 27-0 advantage.

MoNica Coffer finally delivered the Hornets’ first points as she made a pair of free throws at the 7:15 mark of the second quarter. Their first field goal didn’t come until nearly six minutes later, when Woodson hit a 3-pointer with 1:25 to go in the half.

They were 0-for-15 from the field before the Woodson triple.

The only possible suspense after the opening few minutes was whether Bruggeman and the Patriots would go after the school’s single-game point records. Shannon Freeman’s 40 points against Delta in 1985-86 and the team’s 110 points versus Winchester in 1990-91 each were well within reach, but with the win secure Jay County went almost exclusively to its bench in the second half.

Bruggeman finished with 20 points, 16 of which came in the first half. Twelve of those points came in the first quarter as she hit her first five field goal attempts.

She also had a team-high six assists.

The Patriots notched assists on 22 of their 34 made baskets.

“I thought we distributed the ball extremely well tonight,” said Comer. “We’re not a selfish team at all ...”

Ten other players scored for Jay County, with Runyon joining Bruggeman in double figures with 12 points. Lisa Weitzel added seven, and Garringer, Renae Laux, and Chelsea DeBoy each scored six.

DeBoy grabbed a team-high eight rebounds as the Patriots took a 47-36 advantage on the glass. Runyon had seven boards, Weitzel added six and Leah Gasparovic had five.

Garringer also finished with four assists, and Runyon notched three blocks.

“I thought Amber Champ came off the bench and played extremely well,” said Comer of the junior who finished with four points, three rebounds and two assists. “We’re working on different things to try to polish things up before the tournament. She is just getting more and more confident and she’ll give us another guard off the bench.”

“We’re going to need nine or 10 people come tournament time,” he added, also complimenting the efforts from DeBoy and Gasparovic.

Shawna Mason finished as the high scorer for Howe with six points. She added a game-high 14 rebounds.

Woodson scored five points as the Hornets went 7-of-50 (14 percent) from the field and turned the ball over 32 times. She grabbed eight boards, and Cheyenne Tinnin notched six.

While they are not likely to play each other, Jay County and Howe will be on the same court again Saturday. Both teams are participating in the Muncie Burris tournament along with the host Owls (6-7) and winless Union (Modoc).[[In-content Ad]]