Muhlenkamp explodes against Adams Central

MONROE — Coach Sherri McItnire hasn’t been too impressed with the Patriots’ offensive production over the past few games.

Against an Allen County Athletic Conference opponent, Molly Muhlenkamp took it into her hands to see that improve.

Muhlenkamp exploded for 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting to fuel the Jay County High School girls basketball team’s 62-26 clobbering of the Adams Central Jets on Friday night.

Jay County (8-2, 2-0 ACAC) held a 21-8 led after only the first quarter. Muhlenkamp scored 14 points in the period on a pair of 3-pointers, and four more buckets from inside the arc to outscore the Jets (3-7, 1-2 ACAC) all by herself.

Meredith Dirksen added a three while Sophie Saxman and Bella Denton each had a basket to hit the total mark for the first quarter.

On the other end of the floor, Jay County only allowed a pair of threes to go through, scored by Athena Schwartz and Ava Stafford as well as a pair of free throws by Alexa Brotherton.

The Patriots scored 16 in the second quarter, 19 in the third and six in the fourth to cruise to victory.

Hallie Schwieterman was also in double figures with 10 points. Schwartz led Adams Central with nine.

Saxman pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, with Muhlenkamp next in line with six and Schwieterman grabbing five.

The Patriots did a great job sharing the ball, racking up 14 assists in the game. Breanna Dirksen had the most, dishing out four, while Danielle May added three.

While the Jay County defense didn’t need to force too many steals to keep the Jets at bay, they still forced 12 turnovers. Muhlenkamp and Breanna Dirksen led the way with three steals each.

The Patriots also received scoring from Saxman (seven points), Breanna Dirksen (seven) Meredith Dirksen (five), Denton (four), May (three), Alexis Sibray (three) and Natalie Careeno (two).

Junior varsity

The Patriots took down the Jets 37-26 in the JV game as well in a two-quarter contest.

Natalie Carreno and Raylah Newton had big games for the Patriots (4-5) with 17 and 11 points respectively.

Jay County finished the first quarter up five points on the back of Carreno who scored 10 of her 17.

Newton led the second quarter with nine to combine with the other seven of Carreno’s points to outscore the Jets 20-14.

Also scoring for Jay County were Alexis Sibray (four points), Meredith Dirksen (three) and Chaylee Melton (two).