Jay County upends Union City

UNION CITY — For the second time in as many games, the Patriot offense started slowly.
But once it got rolling, it was hard for the Indians to keep up.
Four of the starting five players for the Jay County High School girls basketball team reached double figures in a 69-47 thrashing of the Class 1A No. 9 Union City Indians.
“We had a slow start again, but I think our defense got our offense going,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer. “When you can get some steals and some easy baskets and you hit some early shots it gives you the confidence.
“I think that’s what happened tonight.”
With the game tied at 12 late in the opening quarter, senior Britlyn Dues hit a jumper from the right baseline to give Jay County (2-0) the lead. Sophomore Shelby Caldwell made a basket on an assist from Hanna Ault, and a free throw from Union City’s Courtney Wise cut the score to 16-13 less than a minute into the second quarter.
Jay County’s Taylor Homan (10 points, four rebounds and two assists) and Union City’s Kelsey Zimmers (13 points and four rebounds) traded 3-pointers to keep a three-point margin, that is until Ault sank the second of her team-high three buckets from long range.
The Indians never got within one possession for the remainder of the game.
“We started moving the ball a lot more,” said Ault, who led all players with a career-high 16 points. She was 6-for-13 from the field, and had four rebounds and a pair of assists. “My teammates did a really good job at getting the ball inside and kicking it out and eventually they fell.”
Ault made just two of her six shots during the first half, as the Patriots were 44.4 percent from the field. She totaled 10 points in the final 12 minutes, helping Jay County finish just shy of 50 percent for the game.
“Pretty good,” she said of setting a new career-high. “I finally got to meet the expectations everyone, including myself, set for me.”
“I thought Hanna had her best game as far as I’ve been here,” said Comer, whose team had its highest point total since it scored 70 against the Indians on Jan. 22, 2008. “She was aggressive. I knew all along she has the talent. She is very athletic. That is what we want. We want her to be more aggressive. She was tonight and it showed.”
Comer was the coach at Jay County in 2008 — the Patriots were undefeated through the regular season — before leaving to coach Winchester for two years and the Union City boys for a season. He took two years off before coaching the Monroe Central girls in 2014-15 prior to his return to Jay County in 2015.
Ault also had all four of her rebounds come in the second half, a stark contrast from how the Patriots performed on the boards before intermission.
Union City held a 17-10 advantage on the glass at halftime, with 10 of those coming on the offensive side of the court. Only one of Jay County’s 10 rebounds to that point were on defense.
“Our goal all along has been to out-rebound our opponents,” said Comer, whose team finished with a 29-24 advantage on the glass. Dues led the team with six boards, and Shelby Caldwell was second with five.
“At halftime we knew we were down on the boards,” Comer said. “I told them the whole scouting report was if they were going to beat us it was going to be in the paint. If we were going to beat them it is going to be free-throw line to free-throw line, pressuring them, getting them to turn the ball over and being able to shoot it.
“I thought in the second half we did a lot better job keeping them off the boards and we were more aggressive going to get the boards.”
Jay County outscored Union City 19-6 in the second quarter for a 33-18 lead at intermission, and extended the advantage to 50-29 after three periods.
Caldwell and Dues were second on the team with 13 points apiece. Gwen Omstead chipped in with eight points, all of which came in the second half.
Jay County’s bench outscored Union City 17-3.
“We have a good bench and we’re going to play them,” Comer said. Kendra Muhlenkamp had four points, Audrey Shreve totaled three and Briana Muhlenkamp had two. “They were huge tonight. When you can go to your bench, keep the momentum and not lose anything, that is huge.”
Wise led the Indians with 15 points, and Zimmers was second with 13. Baylee Hartman had a game-high 13 rebounds, seven of which were on offense.
“After the first game we got to see what we were really working with as a team,” said Ault. Jay County defeated Monroe Central 50-27 on Nov. 10. “I feel like we’re progressing, working as a team and it’s going to take a few games to get the chemistry we need.
Jay County returns home to face Bellmont on Friday and Winchester on Saturday.
“We’re definitely heading in the right direction and with every game we’ll get better,” Ault said.

Junior varsity
A strong effort on both sides of the court during the second and third quarters gave Jay County a 36-13 victory over the Indians.
The Patriots (2-0) led 7-6 after the first quarter, and pushed the advantage to 19-8 at halftime. A 13-1 advantage in the third made it 32-9 heading into the final seven minutes.
Hallie Fields led all players with a dozen points. Samm Twigg followed with seven points and Hannah Phillips and Claire Dirksen had six points apiece.
Hanna Dillon contributed three points and Mikele Suman tallied two points.