Running away

YORKTOWN — The Patriots needed to play near perfectly if they wanted to break through for their first sectional championship in 18 years and take down their top-ranked opponent.

They nearly did and had a shot at the end to tie it, but the Patriots couldn’t break through.

The No. 1 Hamilton Heights’ defense locked down the 3-point line at the end of the the IHSAA Class 3A Sectional 24 championship game at Yorktown on Saturday to claim a 37-36 victory over the Jay County High School girls basketball, win its fourth straight sectional championship and eliminate the Patriots for the fourth year in a row.

“Our group just left it all out on the floor,” JCHS coach Sherri McIntire said. “We came out mentally focused, we were confident and we thought it was our time to win a sectional. I can’t be any more proud of the leadership our seniors brought, just like they have all season.

“We had a good game plan and for the most part it worked. Obviously we lost, but I thought our kids executed the game plan well. I couldn’t have asked for anything more out of our kids.”

Jay County (22-3) outplayed Hamilton Heights (23-2) in nearly every way. 

The result was a chance to tie and force overtime at the end.

Down one point with less than a minute left, Hallie Schwieterman had to foul Camryn Runner to put her on the line and extend the game. The Huskies’ leading scorer knocked down both shots and put her team up 37-34 with 34.6 seconds left.

The Patriots quickly got the ball up the floor and called a timeout with 30.3 seconds left to draw up a play. After stopping the initial look, Runner fouled Molly Muhlenkamp with 10 seconds left for a baseline-out-of-bounds play.

Jay County ran one of its regular sets that has Schwieterman inbound the ball and then rush to the opposite corner as the ball is swung around the perimeter. Hadleigh Cherry tagged Schwieterman as she went to the corner and Kassidy Schakel popped out as well to run the freshman off the 3-point line.

With time running out, all she could do was drive the lane and hope to draw a foul for a chance at a three-point play. The Huskies backed off, allowing the layup to go through uncontested with three seconds left and then let the clock run out.

“We had the three-point lead and she had taken her final timeout, so we knew they were going to be in a tough spot to stop the clock,” HHHS coach Keegan Cherry said. “So we just talked about if we could guard, guard, guard and give up the two, we could be real deliberate taking the ball out of bounds to see if that clock couldn’t run out. …

“Our defense really stepped up in the second half.”

To even be in that position, Jay County had to play nearly flawlessly.

The Patriots had an 11-rebound advantage. Their ball movement was better with 10 assists to two. They shot slightly better from 3-point range hitting 2-of-9 shots (22.2%) while holding the Huskies to 1-for-12 (8.3%). They shot slightly better from the field as well, going 15-for-36 (41.7%) while Hamilton Heights was 15-for-37 (40.5%).

The Huskies only came out on top in free-throw shooting as Cameron Runner went 6-for-6 while Muhlenkamp and Sophie Saxman combined for 4-of-6. HHHS also had less turnovers with only two, but JCHS still took care of the ball with eight.

The Huskies got a massive game out of Runner to power the victory. She accounted for 75.7% (28 of 37 points) of Hamilton Heights’ scoring, while no one else had more than three points. Runner was also efficient, shooting 11-for-17 (64.7%), with nearly every basket coming on a right-handed drive toward the rim.

Cherry said he believes Runner is the most underrated player in the state, the player he has been the most confident in as a coach.

“You never know which way she’s going to go,” said Schwieterman, who matched up with Runner in most of the second half. “She’s so mature in her game. … Her confidence is just amazing and she’s the best player I’ve ever played. I tried as hard as I could, but there’s just some things you can’t stop.”

Over the past three seasons, and in a win earlier this year, Runner and her teammates beat Jay County from beyond the arc. In an effort to slow the Huskies down, Jay County came out of its 1-2-2 zone, starting the game in man-to-man defense. They also sprinkled in a defense they call “twins” in which two players play a zone along the lane, while three players stayed out on the shooters in man.

The defensive changes worked as the only Hamilton Heights three came off of a quick hitter that Katie Brown launched from the corner despite a contest. However, the switch gave Runner one-on-one matchups that the Huskies exploited.

“Starting my freshman year, we ran mostly ‘Zorro’ all through this year,” said Breanna Dirksen who guarded Runner in the first half. “This year we really started that man. We knew with this team, specifically man was what we needed to help us with their shooting.”

Two key reasons Jay County started so strong were its offensive rebounding and Muhlenkamp’s performance.

The senior ended with 15 points, 11 of which came in the first quarter, on 66.7% shooting (6-9).

Muhlenkamp also dominated the glass, pulling down a game-high eight rebounds, including three on the offensive end. Even when she didn’t get offensive rebounds, her movement and crashing the glass opened opportunities for her teammates to get boards.

In the first quarter where the Patriots outscored Hamilton Heights 17-9, JCHS worked seven offensive rebounds while the Huskies couldn’t grab a single defensive rebound.

“We had the intensity and the energy,” Muhlenkamp said. “We knew we had to come out with a really strong start if we wanted to give them a run for their money.

“Since third grade, they've told us we had to do the little things in order to try to succeed.”

The domination on the glass helped JCHS gain a 17-9 lead in the first quarter.

The Huskies controlled the second quarter, as they started rebounding and Muhlenkamp was forced out with her second foul. Baskets by Hadleigh Cherry and Kennedy Cherry helped Runner in the second to gain a 24-21 lead.

The Patriots won the third quarter 7-6 as the offense slowed down. 

Alongside ending Jay County’s season, the loss snapped a 20-game winning streak that started Nov. 18. Its last loss before Saturday was to Bellmont, 78 days prior. It was the only loss in the last two seasons that did not come at the hands of the Huskies.

In the first matchup, Hamilton Heights won by 53-41 with eight threes. Despite Runner avoiding major foul trouble, the Patriots were able to cut that deficit down from 12 to only one point.

“That game shows just how much this team has grown this season and just where we’re at,” McIntire said. “It’s sad we had to face the No. 1 team here in sectional … because they’re so good and we almost beat them and shows how hard these kids work. 

“I told them in the locker room that this game does not define our season. We had a great season.

“We had a lot of people doubt that we would be able to come back and have the kind of season that we did after losing the offense from last year and a Division I player. This group proved people wrong.”