Turnovers, transition troubles

The Knights came in with the plan to get out in transition and push the pace.

While the Patriots managed to keep stride with the Knights through the first quarter, a 12-0 run gave the visitors the lead and then a 15-0 run put the game out of reach.

The Jay County High School girls basketball team couldn’t stop the Class 2A No. 7 Northeastern Knights transition attack on Tuesday as a pair of runs powered a 60-33 defeat of the Patriots.

“I feel like we’re struggling to find balance,” said JCHS coach Sherri McIntire. “We’re struggling to figure out what our roles are, but you know what, it’s still early. We have lots of potential, we’ve just got to get our chemistry better. …

“I didn’t feel like we were very fundamental tonight and had way too many turnovers. Credit to Northeastern, I think they’re a fine ballclub, but I think way too many times we tried to throw over the top when we should have bounce passed. We just have to be more fundamental.”

The Northeastern (9-0) defense caused problems for the Patriots (3-3) all night. Throughout the course of the game, the Knights forced Jay County to commit 29 turnovers, including 10 in the third quarter. With 66 possessions for JCHS, it turned the ball over at a 43.9% clip.

Northeastern was able to cause all of these problems for the Jay County offense without committing fouls. The Knights only had six fouls called against them.

The 2-3 zone defense employed by NHS also prevented Jay County’s leading scorer Hallie Schwieterman from getting to the free throw line as much as she would when facing man-to-man coverage. The sophomore was averaging 10 free throw attempts a game coming into Tuesday, but only got to make one trip to the charity stripe after a block was called on Adysson Kircher in the opening minute of the third quarter.

“We practice all the time about turning ball handlers without putting hands on (them), showing palms to the officials, beating people to the spot and anticipating,” said NHS coach Cold Dudley. “So that’s just a lot of preparation and hard work in practice on defensive principles and that’s how we like to play. We like to pressure without putting you at the free throw line.”

Raylin Hummer, a freshman at Jay County, fires up a three during Tuesday’s 60-33 loss. The Patriots will face Fort Recovery on Saturday and will need a win to avoid dropping below 0.500 for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

The JCHS turnovers, combined with a concerted effort by the Knights to run off of missed shots, created a plethora of transition opportunities for Northeastern. Fast break opportunities accounted for 40% (24-of-60) of the Knights’ points and fueled the two largest runs of the game.

The first run came after Amelia Heath scored off of a block-to-block connection with Stella Skirvin to cut the deficit to six points. The seventh-ranked team then rattled off 12-unanswered points, including nine off of fast breaks from Ava Mikesell and Kircher – they led the game with 18 and 17 points, respectively. The other three points came on a shot by Ariel Shuler from beyond the arc.

Northeastern also went on a 15-0 run in the third quarter. Eight of the 15 points came in transition, scored again by Mikesell and Kircher. Kerri Gammon added three points off of a post up and a free throw, while Kircher hit a 3-pointer to start the run.

“We knew that going in and said basically everybody but Amelia was supposed to get back on defense,” McInitre said. “Obviously we didn’t do a very good job of that. Credit to them. Like I said, they have a lot of athleticism and do a good job of pushing the ball up the floor. There were times we didn’t remember that and we were going in for the rebound and obviously it hurt us.”

Despite only having two points from the foul line, Schwieterman again was Jay County’s leading scorer with 10. Heath and Elizabeth Brunswick followed with eight apiece.

The Patriots will have three days off before they travel across the border to face off with Fort Recovery. A loss against the Indians will put the Patriots under .500 for the first time since the 2019-20 season 1-5 before improving to 14-9 by the end.