Jay girls drop season finale

CARMEL — Through three quarters, the Patriots were able to hang reasonably close to the seventh-ranked team in the state.
In the final eight minutes, the game got away from them.
Jay County High School’s girls basketball team gave up 26 fourth-quarter points to the Class 4A No. 7 Carmel Greyhounds in a 74-46 loss Friday.
The Patriots (19-4) were within three after the opening quarter with Abby Wendel and Shelby Caldwell scoring all of their eight points. They hit 10 free throws in the second quarter and trailed by 30-22 at the half before Carmel (19-4) gradually pulled away.
Emily Kmec scored at least five points in every quarter as she led the Greyhounds with 23 points.
Olivia Christy followed with 13 points, and Amy Dilk also reached double figures with 12 points.
Wendel, playing the final regular-season game of her career, was the only JCHS player to reach double figures as she totaled 14 points.
Fellow seniors Ava Kunkler and Lyla Muhlenkamp followed with seven points apiece, and Kendra Muhlenkamp scored a career-high six.
The Patriots will start sectional play Friday at Homestead, where they will meet the winner of an opening-round game between second-ranked Homestead (19-2) and Muncie Central (17-5).

Junior varsity
Jay County suffered its first loss of the season 68-33 to the Greyhounds to finish at 19-1.
The Patriots trailed by three at the close of the opening period before Carmel took control. The home team scored at least twice as many points as JCHS in each of the final three quarters.
Klarisa Hemmelgarn’s 14 points set the pace for Jay County, with half of those coming in the third quarter. Gwen Olmstead added eight points.