Jay perfect in ACAC

e Commercial Review
Jay County had already accomplished its goal of winning the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament championship.
The next order of business was the regular season conference title.
Jay County’s girls basketball team secured the round robin title with a 37-29 victory Saturday evening over Heritage in a battle of the Patriots.
“We talked about this all year long,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg, whose team defeated Leo in the conference tournament championship game Jan. 17. “We have two titles up for grab, and I felt that with our skill level and our athleticism that we could put ourselves in position to win both of these.
“We just finished off the second one.”
It took a while for the offenses of Jay County (16-5, 7-0 ACAC) and Heritage (13-8) to get going, as they combined for just eight points in the opening quarter.
It was more of the same in the second, as it took more than three minutes for either team to find the bottom of the net. Jay County’s Catherine Dunn hit her team’s only 3-pointer of the game from the right wing on an assist from Ava Kunkler. The triple gave the Patriots a 9-2 lead with 4:41 remaining in the half, forcing Heritage coach John Beckman to call a timeout.
The visiting Patriots still weren’t able to manage much in the way of offense, scoring just five points the remainder of the half to match Jay County’s output and trailed 14-7 at intermission.
Heritage cut the deficit to 17-14 midway through the third quarter, but back-to-back buckets by Jay County sophomore Taylor Homan, a turnaround jumper by Kunkler and a free throw by Abby Wendel pushed the host Patriots’ advantage to 10. Morgan Little of Heritage hit a three from the left wing to stop the run by the host Patriots.
Homan scored all seven of her points in the second half. She also grabbed eight rebounds, six of which were on the offensive end, to share the team high with Kunkler.
The visitors were handcuffed for most of the game — especially in the second half — with their top offensive producer in foul trouble. Tatteni Hall, a 6-foot forward, entered the game averaging more than 13 points per game. She was whistled for her fourth foul midway through the third quarter and fouled out with 3:48 left in the game.
“We did a great job,” said Krieg, whose team held Hall to six points. “We knew if we could keep her on her back side and keep her in front, she’s going to plow her way through or she’s going to go over your back.
“When she did, we were in the position of getting her in foul trouble.”
Despite a comeback by Heritage, the final period belonged to Wendel. The junior scored nine of her game-high 15 points — she had two points at halftime — in the final period.
After Heritage opened the frame with four straight free throws, Wendel scored to stop the run. Two minutes later she scored following a missed free throw by Bre McIntire. Kunkler tipped the rebound to Wendel, who drove the lane for an easy lay in. Wendel added a baseline drive and three free throws down the stretch to help Jay County remain undefeated in conference play.
“Abby stepped up huge the whole game,” said Krieg, adding that the 5-foot-9-inch junior has a high basketball IQ. “What I like about Abby is very seldom does she force things. She lets things come to her.
“She stepped up nice for us in the last three quarters, especially in the second half.”

Junior varsity
Heritage overcame a four-point deficit at halftime to tie the game at the buzzer to end the third quarter.
It would not score again.
Jay County held the visiting Patriots scoreless in the final quarter in a 32-23 defeat of Heritage.
For the second consecutive game, a hot start by Audrey Shreve helped the home team get out to an early lead. Shreve hit a trio of threes in the opening frame for all of her nine points, helping Jay County to a 12-8 lead after seven minutes.
Britlyn Dues finished with a game-high 12 points, and Emily Muhlenkamp added five points.