January 24, 2019 at 5:24 p.m.
Senior impacts in other ways
Line Drives
Shelby Caldwell has been the face of the Jay County High School girls basketball team for two years now.
As a junior, she was the team’s leading scorer with 15.1 points per game. The year before she averaged 12.7 points through her first three contests before suffering a season-ending ACL tear, and her 8.2 points per game as a freshman were third on the squad.
In this, her senior year, she’s scoring nearly 18 points per game. She set the program’s single-game scoring record with 41 points on Dec. 20 in a 77-17 win over Blackford.
Friday she became just the third player in team history to reach 1,000 points.
Other teams try to keep her off the scoreboard, and only one this season — Fort Recovery on Dec. 29 — had any success at doing so. Caldwell finished with just two points, her lowest total since her final game as a freshman.
While most eyes have been on Caldwell this year, another senior has been lighting things up all the same; just in a few other, less noticeable statistical categories.
Scorers get a lot of the credit. Points are the stat that directly leads to victories and defeats.
But there are other aspects of the game — on both sides of the ball — that are just as important as putting the ball through the hoop.
And Kendra Muhlenkamp has been succeeding at doing those other things.
Muhlenkamp, one of six seniors whohave won seven out of eight possible Allen County Athletic Conference championships, isn’t known for her scoring. Her 8.5 points per game is second to Caldwell, and her most prolific season was last year during which she averaged nine points per game.
She’s just not relied on to score like her classmate.
Although her importance can be seen in other ways.
Muhlenkamp averages nearly five assists and three steals per game. No one else on the team is at more than three assists or two steals.
As Caldwell has set one program record and moved her way up the leaderboard in another, Muhlenkamp has her name among the best in a couple categories too.
Before Tuesday’sregular season finale against Richmond, the speedster sat fifth on the list of career assists, passing Breea Hosier to crack the top five.
Muhlenkamp has registered nine assists on three occasions this season, including Friday’s win over Southern Wells, the same night Caldwell reached 1,000 career points. Her career-high is 10 assists during a 64-44 win against Adams Central in December 2017.
Muhlenkamp is also fourth with 169 career steals as she moved ahead of DeeDee Harriet (165) and Shannon Freeman (164). As Caldwell was breaking the school record for points in a game, Muhlenkamp was setting a career high of nine steals.
She had 67 steals as a junior, and prior to the Richmond contest Tuesday she had 62 swipes for the season, 10 shy of Emily Bone for fifth on the list for most steals in a year.
On the soccer pitch, Muhlenkamp had her fair share of success as she chased the team record for goals in a career. There were many games during which she scored on assists from others, and she was always quick to celebrate with those teammates and praise them postgame for helping in her accolades.
Now on the hardwood, it’s Muhlenkamp’s role to facilitate the offense and set up others. She’s got a keen sense of driving the lane to draw multiple defenders before dishing to a nearby teammate for an easy basket.
Nearly one out of every four baskets the Patriots have made this season were preceded by a Muhlenkamp pass.
And she does it all out of the limelight, which speaks volumes about her character as a player and a person.
She doesn’t chase attention. Often times, she blushes when asked for an interview because it’s never about her and she’d rather just go about her business in her respective sport.
The soft-spoken senior wants others to succeed more than herself. She just wants to win, something the Patriots have done quite a bit of lately.
So as Jay County (16-7) opens sectional play against Delta at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at New Castle looking for its first title in more than a decade, there’s no doubt Caldwell will get her points like she has all season. Muhlenkamp will score a bit too, but watch what she does other than put the ball through the hoop.
It’s just as important.
As a junior, she was the team’s leading scorer with 15.1 points per game. The year before she averaged 12.7 points through her first three contests before suffering a season-ending ACL tear, and her 8.2 points per game as a freshman were third on the squad.
In this, her senior year, she’s scoring nearly 18 points per game. She set the program’s single-game scoring record with 41 points on Dec. 20 in a 77-17 win over Blackford.
Friday she became just the third player in team history to reach 1,000 points.
Other teams try to keep her off the scoreboard, and only one this season — Fort Recovery on Dec. 29 — had any success at doing so. Caldwell finished with just two points, her lowest total since her final game as a freshman.
While most eyes have been on Caldwell this year, another senior has been lighting things up all the same; just in a few other, less noticeable statistical categories.
Scorers get a lot of the credit. Points are the stat that directly leads to victories and defeats.
But there are other aspects of the game — on both sides of the ball — that are just as important as putting the ball through the hoop.
And Kendra Muhlenkamp has been succeeding at doing those other things.
Muhlenkamp, one of six seniors who
She’s just not relied on to score like her classmate.
Although her importance can be seen in other ways.
Muhlenkamp averages nearly five assists and three steals per game. No one else on the team is at more than three assists or two steals.
As Caldwell has set one program record and moved her way up the leaderboard in another, Muhlenkamp has her name among the best in a couple categories too.
Before Tuesday’s
Muhlenkamp has registered nine assists on three occasions this season, including Friday’s win over Southern Wells, the same night Caldwell reached 1,000 career points. Her career-high is 10 assists during a 64-44 win against Adams Central in December 2017.
Muhlenkamp is also fourth with 169 career steals as she moved ahead of DeeDee Harriet (165) and Shannon Freeman (164). As Caldwell was breaking the school record for points in a game, Muhlenkamp was setting a career high of nine steals.
She had 67 steals as a junior, and prior to the Richmond contest Tuesday she had 62 swipes for the season, 10 shy of Emily Bone for fifth on the list for most steals in a year.
On the soccer pitch, Muhlenkamp had her fair share of success as she chased the team record for goals in a career. There were many games during which she scored on assists from others, and she was always quick to celebrate with those teammates and praise them postgame for helping in her accolades.
Now on the hardwood, it’s Muhlenkamp’s role to facilitate the offense and set up others. She’s got a keen sense of driving the lane to draw multiple defenders before dishing to a nearby teammate for an easy basket.
Nearly one out of every four baskets the Patriots have made this season were preceded by a Muhlenkamp pass.
And she does it all out of the limelight, which speaks volumes about her character as a player and a person.
She doesn’t chase attention. Often times, she blushes when asked for an interview because it’s never about her and she’d rather just go about her business in her respective sport.
The soft-spoken senior wants others to succeed more than herself. She just wants to win, something the Patriots have done quite a bit of lately.
So as Jay County (16-7) opens sectional play against Delta at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at New Castle looking for its first title in more than a decade, there’s no doubt Caldwell will get her points like she has all season. Muhlenkamp will score a bit too, but watch what she does other than put the ball through the hoop.
It’s just as important.
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