Comeback blowout

The game showed all the signs of a blowout.

One team had scored 11 points in a row. It was hitting from the outside.

The other had gone scoreless for four minutes and had already called an early timeout.

It did end up a blowout. But not in the direction the first four minutes indicated.

Jay County High School’s girls basketball team used a 39-2 run to erase its early deficit and continued to dominate as it rolled to a 75-36 victory over the visiting New Castle Trojans.

“They got off to a good start, but I thought we responded well,” said coach Kirk Comer, whose Patriots scored more than 70 points in consecutive games for the first time in more than 20 years after beating Adams Central 76-34 Dec. 10. “I thought once we got going, the kids really played hard offensively and defensively. We shared the ball well. …

“The last two games have probably been the best we’ve played together all year, both offensively and defensively.”

After scoring the first points of the game, JCHS (9-2) struggled for the next four minutes. The Trojans (7-7) hit three 3-pointers — two by senior Maddy Meek — as they took a big early lead while looking to push to a three-game winning streak to push them above .500.

But when Renna Schwieterman scored her first points of the game about the 3:30 mark of the first quarter and the Patriots shifted to a half-court trap defense, there was an abrupt turn. It took the home team barely two minutes to erase its deficit as it scored 16 consecutive points, highlighted by nine from the Purdue Fort Wayne commit and hoops from Danielle May, Sophie Saxman and Gabi Bilbrey.

Jay County, which finished 12th in this week’s Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association poll, then forced turnover after turnover — 11 in total — while tallying the first 22 points of the second quarter.

The 39-2 run gave the Patriots a 41-13 lead before Ava Stearns finally ended a nearly seven-minute scoring drought for New Castle with a hoop with 1:30 remaining in the period.

The Trojans made just two field goals in the final 12 minutes of the first half.

“We came out exactly like we should have with quick ball movement,” said New Castle coach Molly Bates. “And then I think we just shocked ourselves and just let them get a couple runs and we didn’t know where to go from there.

“They were hitting everything. We were struggling to hit.”

While Schwieterman led the Patriots with 19 points, she also dished out seven assists with Bilbrey as the frequent beneficiary. With New Castle giving up its zone for a man-to-man look, Schwieterman frequently drove to the lane and then found Bilbrey on back-door cuts to the basket. The junior forward followed her classmate with 14 points while also grabbing 10 rebounds to lead JCHS to a 37-23 advantage on the glass and playing at the top of the trapping zone that gave the Trojans fits.

“Gabi just had a really good game tonight,” said Comer. “Ten rebounds, so a double-double. … That’s pretty impressive.”

Izzy Rodgers, who buried three 3-pointers, and Madison Dirksen followed with 12 and 10 points, respectively, to give the Patriots four in double figures.

Meek’s 19 points paced the Trojans. No one else on the squad had more than five.

Comer went entirely to his bench for the final 5:15, with Cassie Petro scoring four points and Meredith Dirksen adding two. (May also drained a pair of free throws after an intentional foul to finish with four points.)



Junior varsity

Hot offense in the first quarter and strong defense overall, but especially in the third, powered Jay County to a 31-14 victory over the Trojans.

The Patriots jumped out to a nine-point lead as they scored 17 in the first quarter and shut out New Castle in the third. The Trojans also managed just two points in the second quarter.

Molly Muhlenkamp racked up 13 points, all in the first half, to lead JCHS as she hit three 3-pointers in the opening period. Daisy Muhlenkamp, Meredith Dirksen and Cassie Petro each added four points.

Devyn Ayers totaled eight points for the Trojans.