Caldwell's 20 leads Jay Co.

Through her first two varsity games, Shelby Caldwell was nervous.
She wasn’t sure precisely how she’d be received by her teammates.
The freshman scored eight points in the season opener Thursday, and followed it up with six points two days later. Playing in front of a home crowd for the first time on Tuesday, she shrugged aside any nerves and delivered in a big way.
Caldwell tallied a game-high 20 points and led the team with eight rebounds in a 61-34 victory over the Union City Indians.
“I’m pretty proud of myself,” said Caldwell, who has been the first player off the bench in all three games this season. “For the first two nights I was pretty upset. Now I’m getting better and people are helping. It’s not just me, they’re all helping.”
Production like this from the freshman came as no surprise to JCHS coach Kirk Comer.
“She plays older than a freshman,” said Comer, whose team moved to 3-0 on the season. “She is one that I felt like could help us. She can do things like tonight. This isn’t anything that I didn’t think she could do.”
Caldwell’s first bucket of the night came with 2:12 remaining in the first quarter and gave Jay County a 7-6 lead after it went more than four minutes without scoring to start the game. She was fouled on the play and missed the subsequent free throw, but the rebound went off a Union City player and out of bounds.
The freshman scored on the ensuing play, and later added an offensive rebound put-back as the buzzer sounded to end the opening quarter for a 14-9 advantage.
She also had another stellar showing in the closing minutes of the first half when she scored eight consecutive points for the Patriots.
After back-to-back misses from two of her teammates, she snagged an offensive rebound — she had four total — for a bucket, then on the next possession Taylor Homan assisted on Caldwell’s 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 34-16 JCHS lead.
Union City’s Madeline Adams answered with a triple of her own at the other end of the court to make it 34-19. With Jay County back on offense, Caldwell took a shot under the basket and drew a foul as the ball went through the hoop. She converted the three-point play, giving her 14 points at the half.
“It was an outstanding game for her,” Comer said. “It is something we expect out of her.”
Caldwell’s eight points in the quarter and seven more by Abby Wendel helped the Patriots pull away from the Indians (3-1). Jay County totaled 23 points in the second frame, and then held Union City to just five points in the third.
“I thought defensively we played the best we have all year,” Comer said. Jay County was able to disrupt the Union City offense, forcing bad passes to create turnovers and convert them in transition. “I thought we showed maturity by being able to extend the lead. I was pleased with how we came out and started the third quarter.”
Union City coach Sarah Wise was happy with the way her team played at times, but was disappointed in the inconsistency.
“The girls played well in spurts, and they relaxed at times,” said Wise, who was an assistant to Comer during his first stint at Jay County and also at Winchester. “When we relaxed Jay County took advantage of that. We didn’t box out well tonight.”
Jay County won the rebound battle 41-20, and grabbed 13 offensive boards.
“They really hurt us on the offensive boards,” Wise said. “They really crashed the boards well and we weren’t boxing out and getting those rebounds. That cost us a lot of points and put us in a deficit we just couldn’t overcome.”
Wendel had nine points in the first half and added eight in the second to finish with 17. It was her second game in double figures after scoring 21 in the season opener, and the senior is averaging more than 15 points per game.
“She is a leader,” Comer said. “We go the way she goes. She had another really good game tonight. Had some big baskets and some big steals and was able to convert them.”
Senior Lyla Muhlenkamp had her best game of the young season, making three of her eight 3-point attempts on her way to 13 points to give Jay County three players in double figures. She also had three rebounds and an assist.
Kelsey Zimmers led the Indians with 12 points, and Baylee Hartman added eight.

Junior varsity
Klarisa Hemmelgarn hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter, helping Jay County to a 42-15 destruction of Union City.
The Patriots (3-0) got off to a slow start, leading 6-4 after the first quarter, but Hemmelgarn and her teammates got hot in the second. They scored 17 points in the frame for a 21-7 lead at half.
 Meanwhile, Jay County held Union City to just one point in both the second and third quarters.
Audrey Shreve and Gwen Omstead followed Hemmelgarn with six points each. Hanna Dillon and Clair Dirksen chipped in with five and three points respectively.