Jay claims two ACAC titles

PONETO — The Patriots and the Tigers are looking like the teams of the future in the Allen County Athletic Conference.

The Patriots came out on top of the girls side, while the Tigers took the boys championship.

All four junior high ACAC basketball championships on Saturday featured the Jay County Patriots and Bluffton Tigers at Southern Wells High School. Jay County claimed both girls ACAC titles, while Bluffton won the boys ACAC championship games.

The eighth grade girls squeaked out a 38-36 win over Bluffton.

Amelia Heath led the way for the Patriots (16-1) with 14 points. Five more Jay County players scored, including Elizabeth Brunswick with eight and Kylie Shannon with seven.

The eighth grade team finished the season undefeated in conference.

The seventh grade girls cruised to a 46-28 victory.

Karsyn Schwieterman dominated, scoring 28 points herself to match the Tigers. Charlee Peters also added 12 points for Jay County (17-0).

Tyler Wasson scored 13 points for the eighth grade boys team, but couldn’t pull out the win as the Tigers beat Jay County 29-24.

The Patriots (16-5) trailed Bluffton 10-6 after the first, and that margin extended to 15-9 at halftime.

Jay County made a late push, outscoring Bluffton 8-7, but they couldn’t mount enough of a comeback.

A big third quarter put the championship out of reach for the seventh grade boys, as the Patriots suffered a 30-22 defeat to Bluffton.

Jay County (18-3) trailed by five going into halftime, but a 12-point third quarter was enough of an edge for Bluffton to pull away.

Paul Dirksen finished as the Patriots’ leading scorer with eight points.