High pressure

Olivia Murphy has helped the Bruins improve from the struggles of the 2024-25 season. The Patriots didn’t overlook the freshman guard but rather cut the head of the snake off and nullified the Bruins’ offense and fueled their own.

The Jay County High School girls basketball team held Olivia Murphy scoreless as its defense created offense on Tuesday afternoon for a 56-19 victory over the Blackford Bruins.

“I felt like, for the most part, especially in the first half, that we played to our level and our potential,” said JCHS coach Sherri McIntire. “Obviously in the fourth quarter, that wasn’t the case but we had people in there that are not getting a ton of varsity minutes, but it’s good to see those kids get to play.”

The Patriots (4-3) had to play well at the start of the game to allow McIntire to empty her bench early in the fourth quarter. They couldn’t have played much better in the first quarter, scoring the first 12 points and entering the quarter break up 22-4.

Jay County quelled the Bruins’ offense by containing Olivia Murphy. It started with Hallie Schwieterman guarding the BHS freshman, working to deny the ball, force passes and pick her pocket when the chance arose. After forcing turnovers on the three of four possessions, Blackford (4-6) was forced to have Carley Leas play point guard, while Olivia Murphy stepped off the ball.

After Hallie Schwieterman picked up her second foul with just under two minutes to go in the first quarter, Karsyn Schwieterman and Claudia Dirksen took over the responsibility of guarding Murphy and continued to limit her.

“We practice our defense a lot,” Karsyn Schwieterman said. “Hallie is always a great defender and (we) picked up after her.”

They didn’t let up in the second quarter either, outscoring the Bruins 18-3 in the second period.

In total, the Patriots forced Blackford to turn the ball over 12 times in the first half and 19 throughout the game.

Jay County deployed a mix of defensive strategies to create havoc including a full-court press, a 1-3-1 trapping zone and a man-to-man defense with high ball pressure.

    Kayah Kaigler of the Jay County girls basketball team turns toward the hoop to begin a shot attempt during Tuesday’s 37-point win over the Blackford Bruins. The Patriots dominated the Bruins in the first half, forcing 12 turnovers and running up a 40-7 advantage with 26 points in transition. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)
  

“We knew it was going to come so we had that press break in for them,” said BHS coach Aaron Murphy. “We had a hard time getting under that screen and sealing it. We wanted to come back to the ball and get it. … They’re a super athletic and physical team, which has been our kryptonite.”

Blackford finished with just seven made field goals, including three in the fourth quarter after McIntire started pulling her starters.

The defense also directly led to points for the Patriots either off of turnovers for easy leakouts or by pushing the pace after securing a defensive rebound. JCHS ended with 18 points (32.1%) off of turnovers, and another 14 (25%) by just pushing the ball for 32 (57.1%) points in transition.

Karsyn Schwieterman benefitted from the fast pace the most, scoring 15 of her game-high 19 points in transition.

“We were just being the aggressor,” McIntire said. “We thought coming in that we could definitely pressure them and get offense out of our defense and honestly that’s our strength.”

While a majority of the Patriots’ points came in transition, they also hit the offensive glass hard. Jay County grabbed 15 offensive rebounds, leading to 15 second-chance points, including five for Charlee Peters and four for Karsyn Schwieterman and Natalie May, the latter of which scored a career-high 11 points.

“I think with having me and Charlee crashing and having all of our guards follow their shot, we got in there,” May said. “We were tough and put the ball right back up and that’s where a lot of our points come from.”