Deficit doubles

The Patriots largest loss last season came at the hands of the Braves. The 17-point defeat came just six days following the Patriots’ first loss of the 2023-24 season.

While they got some revenge on sectional nemesis Hamilton Heights last weekend, their margin of defeat against the Braves nearly doubled.

The Jay County High School girls basketball team got dealt its first loss of the season Friday, falling to the Bellmont Braves 66-37.

Bellmont (4-0) was one of only two teams to beat Jay County (2-1) last season in a 50-33 contest. (Hamilton Heights was the other as it topped the Patriots in the regular season and the sectional championship game.) That 17-point difference grew to 29 as the Patriots couldn’t find an offensive rhythm.

“Well obviously Bellmont is a very good basketball team and very disciplined,” said JCHS coach Sherri McIntire. “They got after us on the defensive end and I don’t think we ever got into a very good rhythm offensively and that was a credit to them. … I felt our kids played hard and we’re not going to dwell on this loss.”

The Patriots found a way to hang keep within striking distance of Bellmont through the first quarter. That was in large part because of the offensive lift from Hallie Schwieterman, who scored six of her team’s eight points in the opening period. (She converted two three-point plays, while the other basket came from Amelia Heath on the offensive glass.)

    Jay County High School’s Hallie Schwieterman fights through contact from Bellmont’s Ashley Bleke on a drive during the 66-37 beating on Friday. Schwieterman was one of three Patriots with multiple field goals, leading the way with 15 points. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

Schwieterman opened the second quarter with a three that she dribbled into off of a screen by Raylin Hummer to pull Jay County within five points. The Braves then took complete control of the game with an 11-point run that included two baskets from Emily Bleke and one each by Kaitlyn Barton, Kamryn Jarvis and Oni Krueckeberg. Schwieterman snapped the run on a dive with 1 minute, 50 seconds, remaining in the quarter.

Bellmont coach Andy Heim said his team’s goal was to keep the ball out of Schwieterman’s hands as much as possible, leading to a full-court press that prevented the Patriots from getting any offensive rhythm.

By the start of the fourth quarter, Schwieterman was 5-for-16 from the field for 14 points, while the rest of her team was 3-for-19 to score seven.

“We didn’t get into a natural flow to our offense,” McIntire said. “Hallie had to create some things on her own.

“I think if we would have maybe done a better job of getting into our offense, then those other kids would have gotten some better looks and putting them in better positions and we didn’t do a real good job of getting into the flow of our offense.”

Jay County finished the game with 23 turnovers, most because of the offensive pressure pushing the pace of the game.

On the other end of the floor, the Braves moved the ball more effectively, resulting in 16 assists. Emily Bleke and Kate Kitson each dished out four assists.

“We’ve got a bunch of girls that are pretty unselfish,” Heim said. “We want to push the pace, we go 10, 11, 12 deep so we can run. That’s been our game plan so far and tonight we executed it really well.”

Beyond winning the turnover and assist battles, BHS found more success on the offensive glass. It pulled down 18 offensive rebounds, double what Jay County grabbed, resulting in 15 second-chance points.

The Braves also found success defending the paint, having multiple girls collapse on ball handlers and post players whenever the Patriots got a touch. In all, Bellmont outscored Jay County 32-22 in the paint.

“I think it was just everybody not crashing the boards,” said Heath, who got her first career start. “I mean, myself included. We all had a little trouble with that. … We’ve just got to look for those outlet passes on the opposite blocks and at the 3-point line for those shots when they (collapse on us).”

Schwieterman finished as the game’s high scorer with 15 points. Ashley Bleke followed with 14, all but three of which came in the second half. Bellmont also had a pair of 13-point performances from Barton and Emily Bleke.

Heath followed Schwieterman with a career-high nine points, and May finished with five as the only other Patriot with multiple field goals.

Jay County won’t have much time to wipe the game from memory as it hosts Winchester less than 24 hours after the loss.

“We’ve got to come in tomorrow morning and get ready for Winchester,” McIntire said. “(The freshmen) have never done this before, so we’ll see how it goes. Tonight was a fast-paced game, so I feel like the kids put a lot of energy into tonight. So we’ll see how they bounce back.

“I feel like, hopefully, we’ll be fine to come in tomorrow, go over things we think Winchester is going to do and go from there.”