Patriots draw byes to semifinal

The boys got bounced in overtime of the championship last season.

The girls didn’t make it past the opener.

This year, both teams only need one win to compete for a title.

Both Jay County High School soccer teams got first round byes and will play in the semifinal of the IHSAA sectional soccer tournaments as brackets got revealed Sunday.

The boys will face either Yorktown or Delta in the Class 2A Sectional 23 semifinal hosted by Eastbrook at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 9. The Patriots (10-2) beat both teams by one goal during the regular season.

A win in the semifinal would earn them a spot in the championship game on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. Eastbrook, which finished 19th in the ISCA poll, is favored to come from the bottom of the bracket. They would have to beat Blackford in the opener and then Oak Hill or Mississinewa in the semifinal.

There will be a new boys champion as Mississinewa is no longer in the boys’ sectional.

Jay County’s girls team (8-5) will take the pitch against the winner of Delta or New Castle at Mississinewa on Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. The Patriots fell to Delta 2-0 in the regular season and did not see the Trojans.

In the championship game on Oct. 12 at 1 p.m., they would either match up with host Mississinewa or defending champion Yorktown.

Finished perfect

MONROEVILLE — The Jay County girls soccer team completed a perfect season in the Allen County Athletic Conference with a 3-0 shutout against the Heritage Patriots on Saturday.

The ACAC champs scored two goals in the first half. The first came from London Lloyd, just under 10 minutes into the game. Morgan DeHoff doubled the Jay County (9-5, 6-0 ACAC) lead with a goal assisted by Aixa Lopez with 13:53 left in the half.

The two connected again with 19:39 left in the second half to reach the final score.

Goalkeeper Maleah Parsons only needed to make seven saves to hold Heritage (4-9-1, 1-4 ACAC) scoreless.

Garringer paces

NEW HAVEN — Both Jay County cross country teams finished eighth in the New Haven Invitational on Saturday.

The boys’ 192 points tied Leo for the eighth-place finish in the 15-team field. West Noble (94) left with a two-point victory over Wawasee.

The girls team totaled 220 points, while Hamilton Heights’ 72 points topped the 17 team field.

Caleb Garringer earned a top-10 finish as his time of 17 minutes, 29.8 seconds claimed ninth place.

Joseph Boggs (25th) and Dash Thacker (35th) both broke 19 minutes with times of 18:07.7 and 18:18.6, respectively. Other scores came from Max Klopfenstein (19:28.8) in 67th and Dougie Cox (19:34.4) in 70th.

Abby Fifer and Ava May finished back-to-back in 42nd and 43rd for the girls. Fifer ran a 22:33.8 and May shaved off nearly 12 seconds with a 22:34.50.

Jessie Homan (22:54.6) and Brooklynn Byrum (23:01.2) finished in consecutive places as well to take 48th and 49th.

Alexis Sibray rounded out the score with a 52nd-place finish in 23:09 flat.

Tourney troubles

MONROEVILLE — While the Jay County volleyball team has done well in conference play, they dropped two of three games in the ACAC tournament hosted by Heritage on Saturday.

After beating the Starfires four days earlier, Jay County opened with a 25-22, 25-10 loss to South Adams. Hallie Schwieterman and Elizabeth Barnett both had four kills to lead the way for Jay County (9-9).

The Patriots also suffered a 25-17, 21-25, 15-4 loss to Adams Central, which also won in five sets during the regular season. Brenna Schmiesing and Maria Hemmelgarn tied for a team-high six kills in the match.

JCHS finally pulled out a 25-11, 25-19 win over Bluffton to end the day. Schwieterman recorded 10 kills in the victory. The three middles, Hemmelgarn, Schmiesing and Mya Kunkler, each had two blocks.

Tribe tumbles

CONVOY, Ohio — The Fort Recovery volleyball team dropped all three matches in the Lady Knight Invite hosted by Crestview on Saturday.

The Indians fell to Bellmont 25-19, 25-22 to start the day. Four blocks from Karlie Niekamp and Kennedy Muhlenkamp helped keep Fort Recovery (8-10) close in the match. Brynn Willman and Cameron Muhlenkamp led the offense with six kills apiece.

Celina got some revenge on FRHS with a 16-25, 25-18, 25-10 victory. Bridget Homan powered the offense in the second match with seven kills.

Fort Recovery forced extra points in both sets against St. Paul, but still fell 27-25, 29-27. The Indians served well in the match with four aces by Kayla Heitkamp. Homan and Cameron Muhlenkamp led with six kills, while Kennedy Muhlenkamp and Willman each had five.