Turnover troubles

Pace of play can be a huge game changer in basketball.

Some teams want to speed you up with a focus on offensive opportunities. Others want to slow you down to limit possessions while trusting their defense.

Playing at your team’s pace puts the game in your hands and the only question is execution. The Patriots controlled the pace on Saturday.

The Jay County High School girls basketball team extended its winning streak to four as it controlled the pace and they sped up the Fort Recovery Indians in a 44-30 win.

By controlling the pace of play, the Patriots (6-2) forced the Indians (1-3) to turn the ball over 26 times.

“We got them to turn the ball over and our defense kept us in the game,” JCHS coach Sherri McIntire said. “We’ve got to get offense out of our defense.

“We did a good job turning them over, then we just didn’t go down and finish on the other end. I’m happy with how our defense played and then if we finished at the other end the score would have been a lot different.”

The Patriots controlled the first three quarters, only allowing 11 points, developing a 35-11 lead. 

Those 11 points came off of four free throws, one 3-pointer, an offensive rebound and a fast break. The Indians struggled to find open shots against the 1-2-2 zone of Jay County.

“Most of our zone offense is set for 2-3’s,” Indians coach Tyler Deitsch said. “We just started out so slow offensively and they just capitalized.

“They just do things so well. … Their defense had us flustered. It’s something that we haven't seen a whole lot of, definitely not this year. So our movements aren't the same as what they normally are, and that just kind of threw us out of our rhythm.”

Fort Recovery turned a corner in the final period as they exploded for 19 points. Highlights from the quarter included a three-point play by Karlie Neikamp on a post-up, and threes from Kennedy Muhlenkamp and Cali Wendel on assists from Makenna Huelskamp who drove between the Patriots’ wing and post defenders before kicking it back out to the shooters.

The fourth-quarter 3-pointer by Wendel was the first basket for the Indians’ leading scorer at 11 points per game.

“It all kind of stems from our defense,” Deitsch said. “We turned up defensive pressure, a couple calls started going our way, ball started falling a little bit more. Whenever you play the right way, you play super hard, you kind of get those lucky bounces. At that point, you get back into your rhythm.”

While the Patriots controlled the game defensively, McIntire wasn’t impressed with her team’s offensive performance. Jay County finished 19-of-54 from the field (35.2%), including 0-of-10 from 3-point range. Twenty-four of its misses came from inside the paint.

Jay County’s Sophie Saxman (10) goes up for a layup as three Fort Recovery defenders converge around her in the paint. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

Freshman Hallie Schwieterman led all scorers with 12 points on 5-for-17 shooting. Sophie Saxman (4-for-11) followed up with 11, tying Fort Recovery’s top shooter, Kennedy Muhlenkamp. Saxman also ripped down six rebounds, dished out five assists and sent back three shots.

“We just didn’t play to our level today,” McIntire said. “We’ve got to move on. We’re not going to dwell on this. We’ve got to get prepared for next week.”

Junior varsity

The guards for Jay County exploded in the second quarter of the three-period 44-24 victory over the Indians.

Leading by five after the first period, Raylah Newton and Alexis Sibray both sprayed in three shots each while the former also nailed two free throws to power a 17-point second period. Meredith Dirksen also hit a three for the Patriots (3-5) while the Indians only got baskets from Madie Schoenlein and Ivy Tobe. Schoenlein led Fort Recovery with five points.

Newton finished with 16 points for Jay County while Natalie Carreno put up 13 and Sibray had 10.