Eight in a row

The Patriots scored off the opening tip as they have so often this season and were rolling on offense from the start.

A couple of 3-pointers helped New Castle keep pace, but only for the first four minutes.

Jay County High School’s girls basketball team extended its winning streak to eight games Thursday, closing the first quarter with 12 consecutive points and rolling to a 63-24 victory over the visiting New Castle Trojans.

“I was real pleased that we had three kids in double digits,” said JCHS coach Sherri McIntire, whose team’s last loss came Nov. 17 at Bellmont. “I was pleased with Bella Denton. She’s been working really hard in practice on her post moves. I felt like tonight she played with a lot of confidence. …

“Sophie Saxman, second game in a row with double digits. We need her to do that.”

Alana Orr’s 3-pointer had the Trojans (2-11) trailing just 12-8 midway through the first quarter, but a hoop from Hallie Schwieterman started a 16-0 run for Jay County (10-2). Breanna Dirksen assisted on a 3-pointer from Danielle May and a basket by Bella Denton, and then May dished to Meredith Dirksen for a bucket. Sophie Saxman hit a put-back off of a Bella Denton miss to make it 24-8 at the quarter break. (The home team shot 69% from the field in the first eight minutes.)

Consecutive Breanna Dirksen baskets — one off of a steal and another on an assist by Saxman — pushed the run to 16 points as the Patriots held New Castle scoreless for more than five minutes.

“Our intensity at the beginning was a little bit low,” said Denton. “I feel like we picked that up a little bit.”

JCHS scored the final six points of the first half for a 36-13 advantage at the break and opened the second with nine in a row to put the game out of reach. It was a running clock for a chunk of the second half as everyone available on the Patriots’ roster saw minutes.

Saxman and Denton were efficient in leading the way for Jay County. The former was 4-of-5 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line for a team-high 13 points. The latter went 6-of-7 — her only miss led to Saxman’s put-back at the end of the first quarter — en route to a 12-point effort

“I just feel like we were having really good passes,” said Denton, who came into the game averaging 2.8 points. “We were getting really good looks down low. That was working well.”

Hallie Schwieterman joined Saxman and Denton in double figures with 11 points.

Jay County was dominant across the board, out-rebounding the Trojans 39-19, including 17 on the offensive end, forcing 19 turnovers while committing only eight and dishing out 14 assists. Breanna Dirksen led the effort in pulling down rebounds (seven) and passing (five assists). Meredith Dirksen and Muhlenkamp each grabbed six rebounds. Saxman and May recorded three assists apiece.

“That’s just the character of this team,” said McIntire. “They’re very unselfish. They’ll make that extra pass a lot of times instead of taking that shot for themselves. That’s just the kind of kids they are. They’re an unselfish group.

New Castle’s Emma Hart led all scorers with 15 points but needed 18 field-goal attempts to reach that total. No one else on the team had more than five.

The Patriots, who are in the midst of a four-game home stand, will return to Allen County Athletic Conference play Saturday when they host South Adams and then will have 10 days off.

Junior varsity

Jay County took a brief lead in the final period but came up short in a 38-26 loss to the Trojans in three quarters.

The Patriots fell behind as they gave up 13 first-quarter points. They came back to take a brief lead as Alexis Sibray scored all of her eight points in the second quarter before fading as they gave up 15 in the third.

Raylah Newton shared the game high of 11 points in the losing effort. Meredith Dirksen scored all of her seven points in the first quarter.

Macie Morehouse matched Newton with 11 points for the Trojans while Peyton Blessinger added 10.