Girls reach ACAC final

In its first season in the Allen County Athletic Conference, the Patriot girls basketball team will get to play for the conference tournament championship.
Jay County kept Bluffton scoreless in the second quarter Thursday and hung on down the stretch to beat the visiting Tigers 25-19 in the ACAC tournament semifinal.
The Patriots will meet Leo at 8 p.m. Saturday at the StarDome in Berne. The Lions won in overtime in the other semifinal, beating Heritage 52-45 to set up a rematch with the Patriots. Jay County defeated Leo in the Dec. 6 meeting, 48-41.
Getting to the championship wasn’t easy for the Patriots, who seemed as if they were going to cruise to the title game given the first 16 minutes of Thursday’s game.
They limited Bluffton (10-6) to just one field goal in the first half (1-of-11) and held the Tigers scoreless for more than 12 minutes.
“The first half was excellent,” said JCHS coach Chris Krieg, whose team struggled in a 39-32 victory Tuesday against Southern Wells in the tournament opener on Tuesday. “It was by far our best half of defense we’ve had all year long.
“I’m thinking we are back, shots are going to fall.”
Jay County (12-3) had a 17-3 lead heading into the third quarter, thanks to six points from sophomore Taylor Homan, four from Catherine Dunn, two each from Bre McIntire, Abby Wendel and Lyla Muhlenkamp and one from Ava Kunkler.
Bluffton’s only field goal was a 3-pointer from Zoey Smith with two minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The second half, though, was the exact opposite for both teams.
Jay County was 1-of-11 from the field — it was fouled on its only two shots in the fourth quarter — and Bluffton improved offensively by going 6-of-15.
The Patriots only scored four points in the third quarter when Kunkler split a pair of free throws and Dunn connected on a 3-pointer from the right wing. The three by Dunn, who finished with a game-high eight points, gave the Patriots a 21-5 lead late in the third quarter.
But the Tigers clawed their way back into the game, going on a 12-3 run to get within two possessions in the final two minutes.
Erin McKinley sparked the run with a drive and a bucket, and following a Patriot miss, Lauren Stauffer made a layup of her own as the Tigers snuck in four points before the end of the quarter to take a 21-9 deficit into the fourth.
Bluffton cut the lead to 23-13 on a trey from Ashley Smith, who then hit a pair of free throws, and McKinley drove the lane for a basket to get her team within striking distance, 23-17.
With 37 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Wendel made both of her bonus free throws to push the Patriot advantage to eight, 25-17. Two possessions later Smith connected on a layup as time expired.
“Our girls didn’t quit,” said Bluffton coach Karl Grau, whose team lost to Jay County 46-32 Saturday. “I was really proud of them for that. Obviously the first half was tough, we just couldn’t find gaps to score. We couldn’t make shots.”
Most of Bluffton’s struggles in the opening half had to do with Jay County’s length inside. McIntire, Kunkler and Wendel weren’t allowing the Tigers to cut to the hoop. And when they were able to get shots, whether in the paint or from near the 3-point line, the Patriots were there to control the rebound.
Half of the Patriots’ 26 boards came at the defensive end of the court, five of which from Catherine Dunn. Bluffton only had two offensive rebounds.
Jay County had the advantage on the other end of the court too, with Kunkler nabbing six of her game-high nine boards while her team was on offense.
Thankfully for the Patriots, the lead they built in the first half was too much for the Tigers to overcome.
“They played a lot harder than us in the second half,” said Krieg, whose team has won three straight following back-to-back losses to Fort Recovery and Concordia. “We had a better first half than they had a better second half.
“This week is all about finding ways to win. Unfortunately when we go on Saturday, if we play like this it’s going to be a long night.”