Jay’s third thwarts Archers

The Patriots went into halftime down by just two points despite some sharpshooting by the Archers.

A hot start to the third quarter erased the deficit, and the Archers were off target more often than not.

The Jay County High School girls basketball team opened the second half on a 12-3 run that carried it into a 66-55 victory against the South Side Archers on Tuesday in the season opener for both teams.

“We’ve been competing with teams like this, but it’s time,” JCHS coach Kirk Comer said. “Before the game we talked, it’s time we beat teams like this.

“I thought they did a really good job of stepping up to the challenge. We made a lot of mistakes, but we kept fighting (and) getting on the floor after loose balls. I saw some fire tonight that I haven’t seen in a while.”

The win for the Patriots (1-0), who are ranked eighth in Class 3A, was the first against the Archers since a 58-38 triumph Dec. 1, 2015. Jay County is 4-10 in the last 12 years against South Side (0-1).

“This was huge,” said junior Renna Schwieterman, who led all players with 22 points. “It gives us high expectations and more confidence.”

Jay County trailed South Side 34-32 at halftime, but came out blazing to start the third quarter. Madison Dirksen scored on a Schwieterman assist to tie the game, then Schwieterman hit a jumper near the free throw line for a short-lived Patriot lead.

Justice Billingsley, who spent most of the first half in foul trouble for South Side, drained a 3-pointer from the right corner on a Olivia Smith assist on the next possession.

Gabi Bilbrey, however, put back a Schwieterman miss for two of her career-high 10 points and the Patriots never trailed again.

Schwieterman and Dirksen each added two more points before Dirksen assisted on yet another Bilbrey bucket, and suddenly the halftime deficit turned into a seven-point lead, 44-37.

“I thought that was key,” Comer said. “We talked about that at halftime — I thought if we got a lead we could spread them out … I felt our confidence rose when we took the lead.”

Jay County went up by double digits early in the fourth quarter following a pair of Schweiterman free throws — she was 11-of-14 from the stripe — and a 3-pointer from junior Mabrey McIntire.

McIntire, who was making her Patriot debut after spending the last two years at Winchester, hit two more triples in the fourth quarter. The second of the two, which came in the final 90 seconds, gave Jay County it’s biggest lead of the night, 66-53.

“She’s a nice player,” Comer said of McIntire, who missed her first four shots as a Patriot before coming up big late. “I was glad to see her keep shooting. She’s going to be one that can do a lot of different things. It just gives us another weapon.”

Speaking of weapons, Jay County had five players score double figures. Dirksen was second on the team with 12 points, with Izzy Rodgers and McIntire adding 11 apiece.

“We’ve got to share the ball,” Comer said. Jay County assisted on all but four its 23 field goals. “We need to have three girls in double figures at least, but to have five in double figures is just outstanding.”

While South Side was 6-of-14 (38.5%) from long range in the first quarter, it was just 3-of-17 (17.7%) from beyond the arc in the final 16 minutes. Terra Easley, who had three triples in the first half, missed both of her attempts in the third quarter. Smith and Billingsley — they led the Archers with 17 points apiece — were a combined 3-for-12 from long range.

“I didn’t think they’d continue hitting threes like they did,” Comer said. “We just had to get stops. Switched the defenses up a little bit trying to confuse them.

“Their guards [Smith and Billingsley] are really good. It’s hard to stop their penetration. I thought we did a better job of that in the second half.”

Jay County, which travels Indianapolis to take on Class 4A No. 3 North Central (2-0) on Saturday, dominated the glass by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. The Patriots out-rebounded the Archers 43-26.

“When you’re not shooting it very well in the first half you have to get the rebound and try again,” Comer said. The Patriots had 19 offensive rebounds. “That’s what we tried to do. We had the height advantage but they still had the quickness. But I thought we did a good job of getting in the paint to get the rebounds.”



Junior varsity

Although it already had the lead, a strong third quarter helped Jay County hold off the Wapahani Raiders, 29-23.

The Patriots (1-0) were ahead 9-5 after the first quarter and went into intermission on top, 16-11. They outscored the Raiders 11-3 in the third before keeping a potential Raider rally at bay.

Molly Muhlenkamp and Danielle May led Jay County with 11 points apiece. Muhlenkamp scored nine points in the first quarter.

Meredith Dirksen ended with three points while Daisy Muhlenkamp and Jenna Dues had two points apiece.