Early shutdown

Off the tip, Bella Denton tapped the ball forward to Sophie Saxman. The senior quickly swung the ball over to freshman Hallie Schwieterman on the right wing. Schwieterman immediately pushed the ball ahead to Breanna Dirksen who was streaking to the left block for an easy layup to kick off the game seconds in.

The Patriots didn’t slow down after the quick start.

The Jay County High School basketball team dominated the South Side Archers in the first half of a 60-35 win in the season opener.

“I felt like we came out ready to go, mentally we were focused,” JCHS coach Sherri McIntire said. “I thought the first quarter, even into the second, things were going well. Obviously, I did not feel that way in the second half. I just never really felt like we got back on track and the second half, so that was a little disappointing.”

The preparation and mental focus allowed the Patriots (1-0) to impose their will on the game early. They opened up on a 13-0 scoring run that included eight points off of fast breaks and was capped off by Schwieterman converting on America’s Play.

The Archers (0-1) ended the run and finally cracked the scoreboard with 2 minutes and 40 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The score came from South Side’s Ga’Naysia White who eased a layup through from the right half of the lane.

Jay County tacked on five more points on a drive from Molly Muhlenkamp and three free throws by Schwieterman to end the quarter with a commanding 18-2 lead.

The length of the Patriots bothered South Side, forcing eight turnovers in the first period.

“We were putting ball pressure, we weren’t letting them split us and did a pretty good job on rebounding at that point too when they did get a shot up,” McIntire said. “We just did the things we need to do in our Zorro (1-2-2) defense. That first quarter, I thought our defense was really good.”

A big supplement to that defense was Schwieterman’s offensive play. The freshman dropped a game-high 20 points in her varsity debut 6-of-13 shooting, including two threes, and six-of-seven from the free throw line. She added four assists to be responsible for an additional eight points.

She was the only Patriot to connect from beyond the arc, draining a second three point shot in the second quarter off of an assist from Muhlenkamp.

Schwieterman also pushed the pace by turning defense into offense. She led Jay County with six steals, three of which resulted in fast break baskets.

“It's just, it's a team thing,” Schwieterman said. “Everybody knows how to spread the floor, and they know what to do, know where to go. I guess I just followed off of that. …

“It was super fun. I was really excited about it.”

Muhlenkamp was the second-leading scorer with 15, most of which came off drives to the hoop. She also had three assists.

Saxman led the Patriots in both rebounds and assists. She pulled down nine boards while dishing out six assists.

The Patriots’ defense held up well in the second quarter. It only allowed five points which came off of a baseline-out-of-bounds play for a Renaesha Autry triple and two buckets by JaMaya Green after pulling down offensive rebounds.

It wasn’t until the third quarter that South Side junior Kamoni Grayson found her rhythm. She only took three shots in the first half before tallying 17 points, including three threes in the second half.

“In the first quarter, she was very hesitant,” South Side coach Juanita Goodwell said. “She saw the long arms, and she was just playing out of character. … She can really be that spark, … I think that it just took her some time to get warmed up to that opportunity to get going.”

The Archers managed to score double digits in both second-half quarters with 14 in the third and 12 in the fourth. Despite the defense relaxing a little, the Patriots found a way to win every quarter, putting up 15 in the third and fourth.

Even if McIntire would have liked to see more follow through in the second half from her team, she was still pleased with the opening effort.

“I do like our effort,” McIntire said. “We were on the floor for loose balls and, this team, that's their strength is their grit. We just want to keep doing that. Those are the things that are going to help us be successful and get us to play our best basketball as the season progresses.”

Junior varsity

The junior varsity girls basketball team was also successful, securing a three-quarter 18-8 win over South Side.

Alexis Sibray was responsible for 61% of the Patriots (1-0) points as she poured in 11 points.

Raylah Newton, Kady Allred and Meredith Dirksen all added a bucket as well. Newton finished with three points while Allred and Dirksen had two.