January 22, 2024 at 9:41 a.m.

Another won

Patriots earn fourth-straight ACAC title with win over Southern Wells
Jay County's Breanna Dirksen shoots from the right wing on Saturday in a 70-34 win that clinched an Allen County Athletic Conference title. The Jay County senior had eight points and four assists in the first quarter as JCHS stormed to a 31-9 lead. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)
Jay County's Breanna Dirksen shoots from the right wing on Saturday in a 70-34 win that clinched an Allen County Athletic Conference title. The Jay County senior had eight points and four assists in the first quarter as JCHS stormed to a 31-9 lead. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

Most of the Patriots had been there before.

Of the roster, only four players hadn’t won an Allen County Athletic Conference championship before; freshman Hallie Schwieterman, exchange student Livia Luzzi and first-year varsity players Alexis Sibray and Raylah Newton.

Those four can no longer say they haven’t been a part of an ACAC champion team and three more can say they’ve been there four times.

A 70-34 demolition of the Southern Wells Raiders Saturday evening clinched the Jay County High School girls basketball team at least a tie of the ACAC conference title for the fourth year in a row.

The Patriots (19-2) remain undefeated in conference play with a 5-0 record. The Bluffton Tigers, who have already completed all of their conference games, boast a 5-1 ACAC record, meaning the Patriots’ win over Southern Wells only clinches a share and Jay County will need to beat Heritage (1-17, 0-5 ACAC) to claim the title outright.

This will be the fourth ACAC title for seniors Breanna Dirksen, Molly Muhlenkamp and Sophie Saxman. It is also the first championship for first-year head coach Sherri McIntire while she was captaining the ship.

“For the seniors to be able to do that four years in a row is just awesome,” McIntire said. “I’m so happy for the kids because they deserve it. They work so hard and had good leadership all year. …

“This accomplishment is something they wanted, so I’m very pleased we were able to do that.”

Jay County jumped out on Southern Wells (5-14, 1-5 ACAC) early with a 10-0 run over the first three minutes of the game.

The first basket came from Muhlenkamp in transition after Driksen stole the ball and passed it ahead for the layup. Saxman doubled the score on a pair of free throws 20 seconds later.

Dirksen scored the next three baskets for Jay County, all assisted by Saxman. The first was a jump shot from the right wing on inside-out action with Saxman. A transition bucket came next before Dirksen scored off of a give-and-go with Saxman at the elbow.

“We were going in knowing that it was going to be a lighter game, but we still wanted to play to the highest of our potential,” Dirksen said. “Tonight, we were sharing the ball really well and that has a big part in how we were playing tonight. …

“I got my defense into my offense which rolled into fastbreaks, which is where I got a lot of my points. I think that will really help coming up in sectional time.”

Dirksen notched four assists and four baskets as part of a 31-9 first quarter. She finished with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting, six assists and two rebounds.

Three more Patriots scored in double figures, while two finished just one basket away.

Saxman led all scorers with 14 points, Schwieterman added 11 and Muhlenkamp had 10. Saxman also recorded a team-high eight rebounds and seven assists.

Bella Denton hit a shot each quarter for eight points and two fourth-quarter buckets pushed Meredith Dirksen to nine.

Danielle May also contributed to the large first quarter with six points on back-to-back three pointers assisted by Breanna Dirksen.

“These girls are just so unselfish,” McIntire said. “There were several times where some of them could have shot the basketball but they passed to a teammate. They just have such good team chemistry and that was obvious the way we played tonight.”

Kenzie Paxson led the Raiders with 10 points and eight rebounds.

After the massive opening period, Jay County continued to outscore SWHS until the fourth quarter when both put up 15 points.

The game at Heritage today to earn the ACAC outright will also act as the regular-season finale before the Patriots take on host Yorktown (13-8) in the IHSAA Class 3A Sectional 24 opener on Jan. 30. The Patriots previously took down Yorktown 49-37 Dec. 26.

A win in the opening round would slate a semifinal matchup against the Delta Eagles (10-10) for Feb. 2. JCHS recently dismantled Delta 60-36 on the road.

That sets up a potential championship on Feb. 3 between the Patriots and No. 2 Hamilton Heights (19-2). The Huskies are one of only two teams to take down Jay County this season (53-41 in the second game of the season for JCHS) and have ended its season in the sectional three seasons in a row.

“We just need to have some really intense practices,” McIntire said. “We’ve brought some boys in all season, but we need to continue to do that because we need to be ready. …

“These kids are playing with a lot of confidence. So, let’s go into sectional and see what happens. We don’t have anything to lose as far as Hamilton Heights is supposed to win it. So, let’s take it at them.”


Junior varsity

Three Patriots led Jay County to a 27-24 victory over Southern Wells in a two-quarter contest.

Raylah Newton drained four of her five baskets in the second quarter to keep the Patriots (9-8) alive.

Meredith Dirksen powered the Jay County offense in the first quarter with four buckets of her own.

Alexis Sibray spread her nine points out between both periods, hitting two shots and two free throws in the first while hitting one shot and splitting two free throws in the second.

Remi Holmes and Gracie Reeves both led the Raiders with seven points. Ten of those 14 points were scored in the first quarter before being held quiet in the second.

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