A grand grin

Renna Schwieterman handles it all with a certain nonchalance.

Reaching a rare career milestone, and potentially breaking a school record, are topics that have not been on her mind.

That’s true of her whole career. And it was true Thursday night.

Schwieterman’s jumper from 18 feet out on the right wing early in the second quarter Thursday night pushed her to 1,000 career points as the Jay County High School girls basketball team topped South Adams 62-37 for its eighth straight victory.

She simply grinned as an official timeout was called to allow JCHS coach Kirk Comer to present her with the game ball.

How did it feel?

“Pretty good,” Schwieterman said, grinning again. “Definitely a really cool experience.”

The junior was at her best early with the career milestone in reach. She had 10 points in the opening 4:08 of the game, scoring first on an assist from Sophie Saxman. She added two hoops, the first of which was a 3-pointer, off assists from Madison Dirksen. And her 3-pointer on another assist from Saxman at the 3:52 mark put the Patriots ahead 14-5, gave her 998 career points and led to an SAHS time out.

Schwieterman, who said her focus was not on the milestone but rather on getting a lead against the Patriots’ Allen County Athletic Conference rival, had a couple of chances to hit 1,000 points before the quarter break, but a pair of free throws and a field-goal attempt were off the mark.

It didn’t take her long in the second quarter, though. Dirksen found her with a pass from the top of the key, and Schwieterman launched her long jump shot over Macy Pries. It swished through the bottom of the net with 7:11 remaining.

“It’s just a great accomplishment for her in two-and-a-half years,” said Comer. “She’s just a super athlete. I couldn’t be more happy for her.”

Schwieterman — she said wasn’t aware of the possibility of the milestone until CR sports editor Chris Schanz mentioned it earlier this season — became the fastest player in school history to reach 1,000 points, doing so in just 59 games. After hitting her first four field-goal attempts Thursday, she finished 9-of-16 for a team-high 21 points and a career total of 1,009. She now trails only Shelby Caldwell (1,071), Carissa Phillips (1,073) and Shannon Freeman (1,458) on the Patriots’ all-time scoring list. (She is on pace for nearly 1,600 career points.)

In addition to her scoring against the Starfires, she also racked up six assists and six rebounds.

“Renna has grown her game so much,” said Comer. “As a freshman, she was trying to do things herself because that’s what she’d always had to do. And she’s grown her game to where not only now is she the leading scorer a lot of nights, but she’s also involved in a lot of our points. …

“She makes other players better,” he added, noting her move to point guard this year. “And the other players make her better. It's just a great group of kids that work hard to help each other.”

The Starfires (7-3, 1-1 ACAC) responded to Schwieterman’s milestone hoop with a basket from Makayla Hamrick that pulled them to within 21-16. But the rest of the quarter belonged to Jay County.

The Patriots (10-2, 2-0 ACAC) ripped off a 15-0 run to close the first half, with junior Gabi Bilbrey (13 points, eight rebounds) scoring the first six points. Schwieterman and Molly Muhlenkamp each added hoops before Dirksen (14 points, four assists, four rebounds, three blocks) hit a 3-pointer and converted a steal into a fast-break layup to close the run. SAHS was never able to get within single digits in the second half despite a 21-point effort from Kristen Wynn that included five 3-pointers.

With the win, JCHS matched its longest winning streak from last season. It will look to extend the run Tuesday when it hosts Concordia.

“I’m very pleased with where we’re at right now. I would like to see us play as close to a 32-minute game as possible. We’ve not done that,” said Comer, noting his team’s third-quarter lulls in each of the last two games. “I’m just really proud of the kids. It’s a big win for us. South Adams is doing really well this year — 7-2 coming in — they have a great coach and they’re just going to continue to get better.”

Junior varsity

Jay County went to overtime for the second straight game, this time coming up short by a 51-50 score to the Starfires.

The Patriots (9-4), who beat Yorktown 38-36 in overtime Tuesday, had a two-point lead in overtime before a 3-pointer from Lexi McKibben in the right corner bounced high off the rim and then through. JCHS had a couple of chances to reclaim the lead in the final 30 seconds, including a 3-point attempt from Bella Denton that fell short at the buzzer.

McKibben’s 21 points powered the Starfires to their victory. Liz gerber added 12 points.

Cassie Petro’s 14 points were the team high for Jay County. Denton had 10 and Danielle May scored nine.