Jay Co. girls top Bluffton

BLUFFTON — Jay County overcame a slow start on Saturday.
Its defense held strong in the second quarter, and the offense put the game away in the final period.
The JCHS girls basketball team held the Bluffton Tigers to just two points in the second and scored 17 in the fourth to beat the host Tigers 46-32.
With the victory, Jay County moves to 10-3 on the season and remains perfect in the Allen County Athletic Conference with a 5-0 record.
After falling behind 13-10 after the first quarter, the Patriots scored another 10 points and held the Tigers to just two points. The first-place Patriots headed into the fourth quarter with a 29-22 advantage, and pulled away in the final frame to snap a two-game losing skid.
Bre McIntire led the Patriots with 12 points, and Catherine Dunn scored seven of her nine points from the free-throw line. Ava Kunkler added eight points and Abby Wendel chipped in with six.
Jay County opens ACAC tournament play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on the road at Southern Wells. The winner advances to play either Adams Central or Bluffton.

Siefring lifts Tribe
VAN WERT, Ohio — Kendra Siefring scored five of her nine points from the free-throw line.
Her freebie late in the fourth quarter gave the Fort Recovery High School girls basketball team a one-point lead, and it proved to be the dagger in a 44-43 road victory against the Van Wert Cougars.
Fort Recovery (6-3) overcame a 10-point deficit in the second quarter and eventually led by seven, 35-28, early in the fourth.
A 3-pointer by Van Wert’s Erin Morrow tied the game at 43 late in the game, but moments later Siefring gave the visitors the victory. Morrow’s potential game-winning 3-point attempt missed the mark.
Jocelyn Kaiser scored 14 points to lead the Indians, and Tori Lennartz joined her in double figures with 11 points. Following Siefring’s nine points were Carley Stone and Whitney Will, who both had four.
The Tribe’s JV squad lost, 16-10. Kiah Wendel and Sydney Dues each had four points for the Indians.

FR falls to 2-8
VAN WERT, Ohio — Missed shots and turnovers were costly for the Fort Recovery boys basketball team in a 65-36 loss to the Lincolnview Lancers.
Fort Recovery (2-8) was just 12-of-40 (30 percent) from the field, turned the ball over 17 times and managed only two points in the second quarter. The Lancers, on the other hand, shot 55 percent (26-of-47) and had three players reach double figures. The Indians trailed 39-12 at halftime.
Darien Sheffer and Micaiah Cox had eight points each for Fort Recovery. Caleb Martin, Wes Wenning and Chase Bruns all added four points.
Lincolnview’s Chandler Adams led all scorers with 16 points.

Lions run by Stars
BERNE — Not only did the Leo Lions take more shots than South Adams boys basketball team on Saturday, they made more as well.
Leo was 58 percent from the field, including 16-of-30 from the perimeter, in a 107-77 defeat of the host Starfires.
South Adams (3-5, 0-2 Allen County Athletic Conference) only trailed by five, 26-21, after the opening quarter, but Leo (11-0, 3-0 ACAC) pushed its lead to 12 at halftime and 16 after three quarters.
Cole Myers scored a game-high 32 points for the Starfires, but didn’t get much help from his supporting cast. Derek Wanner followed with 14 points and Jared Grabau added 11.
Adam Davison poured in 31 points for the Lions, who also got 26 points from Kray Klopfenstein and 21 from Jordan Eldridge.
Leo and South Adams meet again Tuesday in Berne in the opening round of the ACAC tournament. The winner advances to face either Woodlan or Heritage in the semifinal round.