Overtime swing

NEW CASTLE — The Trojans had four chances to end the game in regulation. Four times the ball clanked off the rim, keeping the Patriots hopes alive.

The Patriots executed their tipoff play to near perfection to get on the board first in the overtime period.

From there, Hallie Schwieterman put the game away.

Jay County High School’s girls basketball team came back to beat the New Castle Trojans 64-54 in overtime thanks to 30 points from Schwieterman and an intensified effort on the defensive end over the final 12 minutes.

“I’m just so pleased,” said JCHS coach Sherri McIntire, whose team picked up its third straight victory to get back above 0.500 for the first time since Nov. 23. “To come in here tonight, in this gym, which or a bunch of freshmen can be intimidating, didn’t play our best in the first half and yet we were still close enough to win the ball game and just gutted it out.

“Just so proud of Hallie. I just felt like she kept a calm demeanor throughout the whole game and I could just hear her talking to the girls and that became contagious. I felt like the girls were going with her lead and she just stepped up and showed that leadership tonight.”

The Patriots (6-5) entered the fourth quarter down nine points, but clawed their way back to tie the game at 52 on a Schwieterman free throw with 2 minutes, 24 seconds remaining in regulation.

Neither team could buy a basket over the final two minutes. On Jay County’s final possession of regulation, Alexis Sibray drove baseline from the left corner before finding Elizabeth Brunswick in the high post. Brunswick’s shot came up short, Mallory Owens pulled down the rebound for the Trojans (1-10) and got fouled by Sibray who was trying to get a tie up with 0.6 seconds left.

Owen’s first free throw hit the left side of the rim and bounced off to the right, giving Jay County some lift as McIntire called a timeout to ice the second free throw. The second bonus shot came off the front of the rim right back to Owens, who immediately started to put it back up and got fouled by Raylah Newton to give NCHS two more free throws with 0.3 seconds.

The third and fourth free throw had the same results, and while Owens came back down with another offensive rebound, time ran out before she could get the shot off.

Jay County couldn’t have had a better start to overtime.

Amelia Heath tipped the ball to Newton on the left half of the front court, and the junior found Brunswick cutting to the front of the rim to give the Patriots their second lead of the game at 54-52. (The only other lead came with 2:28 remaining in the third quarter at 38-36 before New Castle went on a 13-2 run to finish the period.)

“Honestly, we set it up where she was supposed to tip to (Brunswick), but they had her guarded,” McIntire said. “Smart decision on (Heath’s) part to tip to Raylah. Raylah took good care of the basketball and made a good decision and (Brunswick) finished. Just good team basketball.”

From there Schwieterman took over.

The JCHS sophomore already had 22 points entering the overtime after playing a key role in leading the comeback. Following Brunswick’s bucket, Schwieterman finished a defensive stop by pulling in a rebound, something the Patriots struggled with throughout the game, and came back down to the other end of the floor to get to the free throw line. She did the same thing on the following possession, hitting three of the four free throws to go up 57-52.

JCHS got four more points on a pair of Brunswick free throws and a transition layup after Schwieterman plucked the ball away. The Trojans finally got on the board in the overtime period with 1:15 remaining on a baseline floater from Carlee Lanzer, But Schwierterman hit three of four more bonus free throws to put the game away.

“I’ve always been very competitive and I don’t know if that come from having two older sisters,” Schwieterman said. “I don’t know but my dad has always taught us to be competitive and if you’re going to do something, do it all the way. If you can win, go for it and win.”

Schwieterman acted as an emotional leader, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. Jay County gave up 13 or more points in the first three periods and gave up three or less in the final two. She finished with game highs in points (30) and assists (five) and had a team-high eight rebounds.

This wasn’t the first time the Patriots were in this position, as their game against Adams Central went into overtime as well. Jay County managed to beat the Jets by three in that victory and it pulled from that experience when going into the extra period with New Castle.

“I think the kids drew from their experience with Adams Central,” McIntire said. “When we went to overtime, they came into the huddle and they were confident. … We just dug our heels in, got determined and just pleased with their effort and a lot of people stepping up and doing what they needed to do.”