2024-25 Jay County girls basketball preview

Fast facts

•The Patriots last earned a sectional title in the 2005-06 season despite making the title game five times since then. They have been bounced by Hamilton Heights the past four seasons.

•Jay County returns 24.8% of its scoring from the 2023-24 season, largely in part due to Hallie Schwieterman accounting for 22.9% of all points scored.

•JCHS has dominated the Allen County Athletic Conference, finishing as the champion nine times and as runner-up twice in the 11 years since joining.

Projected lineup

Lizzie Brunswick - Guard

Natalie May – Guard

Raylah Newton – Guard

Gabrielle Petro – Guard

Hallie Schwieterman – Guard

Alexis Sibray – Guard

Natalie Carreno – Forward

Amelia Heath – Forward

Raylin Hummer – Forward

Key departures

Sophie Saxman

11.2 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 3.2 spg, 2.6 apg

Molly Muhlenkamp

10.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.3 spg, 2 apg

Brianna Dirksen

5.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.4 spg, 3.4 apg

Bella Denton

5.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.4 spg, 1 apg

Key returners

Hallie Schwieterman

12.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.2 apg, 2.7 bpg

Alexis Sibray

0.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.5 spg, .500 3P%

Raylah Newton

0.2 ppg, 0.4 rpg, 0.1 spg, .750 Ft%

Games to watch

Saturday, Nov. 16, vs. Hamilton Heights

The Huskies have had a reign of terror on Jay County, winning the last seven matchups, including five sectional games. The early showdown can give the Patriots a shot at revenge for last year’s title game and work as a measuring stick.

Friday, Jan. 10, at Bluffton

After finishing as the runner-up to the Patriots in the ACAC last year, Bluffton has all but one player returning from its rotation. Tigers will pose a threat for this year’s title.

Tuesday, Jan. 21, at Norwell

After not playing each other for two years, JCHS has added the Knights back onto the schedule to beef up the level of competition. Norwell beat Jay County 58-53 back in the 2021-22 season.

2023-24 season

Despite losing Renna Schwieterman, the leading scorer in Jay County history and current Division I player at Purdue-Fort Wayne, the senior-heavy Patriots dominated their schedule, finishing 22-3. They swept Allen County Athletic Conference opponents to notch their fourth consecutive title. Only four games ended with a single-digit difference, as Jay County blew out teams with an average differential of 22.6 points. JCHS’ only losses came at the hands of Bellmont (it lost by 17 points, the biggest margin of defeat) and Hamilton Heights. The Huskies handed Jay County its first loss in the second game of the season before eking out a 37-36 victory in the sectional championship.

Coach Sherri McIntire says

“This group has shown a lot of progress since the summer. I think they have a lot of growth they haven’t reached yet. Each time we take the floor we want to be better than the last time we were on the floor and be playing our best basketball at the end. We’re going to have high expectations even though we’re going to be young. We know that we can have some ups and downs. We’ve added Norwell back this year trying to toughen up our schedule because we feel like in order to get to the next level that’s the kind of competition we need to play. I think we have a bright future. Obviously we want to win another ACAC championship and try to win our first sectional in a while, but we are young so there’s probably going to be mistakes. We just have to get better each day at practice and each time we’re out on the floor.”