Even more dominant

BERNE — In their first trip to the Stardome, the Patriots got a good idea of what worked well against their hosts.

They executed their game plan even better in their second opportunity.

Forcing 21 first-half turnovers and holding the host South Adams Starfires without a field goal for nearly 16 minutes, the Jay County High School girls basketball team cruised to a 54-14 victory in the opening round of the Allen County Athletic Conference Tournament.

“We knew we were able to do that the last time against them and we thought that was obviously a key because we do better when we can get offense out of our defense,” said McIntire, whose team emphatically halted a four-game skid. “We didn’t have very many turnovers, so that was good as well.”

The Patriots (8-9), who have won four straight ACAC tournament titles, advance to visit Class 2A No. 8 Bluffton (15-2) for a semifinal game at 6 p.m. Friday. The Tigers topped Woodlan 67-52 in their opening-round game Tuesday.

Just before Christmas, Jay County was up by 20 on the Starfires in the second quarter

In the first meeting between the two squads just before Christmas, Jay County was up before its lead got trimmed to 15 at the half. On Tuesday night, it scored the game’s first six points, had a 20-point lead in the first quarter and reached the 40-point mark before the home team converted its first field goal.

Turnovers and transition powered the Patriots, who had runs of six, 20 and 10 points in the game’s first 13 minutes. They limited South Adams to a single first-quarter point on a Charlee Bollenbacher free throw.

JCHS pushed its lead to 40-5 before Starfire freshman Ana Lehman finally took a pass from Adalyn Smith at the top of the key and hit a 3-pointer for her team’s first field goal with just 28 seconds left before halftime. 

The numbers said it all, as the Patriots forced 21 first-half turnovers and shot 58.6% from the field while South Adams hit just 5.8% (1-of-17).

“I thought we played physical,” said McIntire, whose team won the first meeting 65-36. “I thought we obviously played hard. We were getting after loose balls. We did the kind of things on the defensive end that we needed to do.”

Jay County did most of its damage in transition, with Hallie Schwieterman outscoring the Starfires on her own as she finished with a game-high 17 points. She also led the Patriots with four assists.

Amelia Heath, who rebounded well but struggled to put the ball in the basket in the previous meeting, found her groove underneath. The freshman shot 7-of-9 from the field to follow Schwieterman with a career-high 14 points.

“I think I’m getting a little bit more comfortable with my moves down low and just getting ahold of the ball better,” said Heath, whose previous high was nine points in the Patriots’ loss to Bellmont on Nov. 22. “Step-throughs, I feel like they just open it up a little bit.”

Elizabeth Brunswick added 10 points and Natalie Carreno had eight.

Jay County will have its hands full with Bluffton, a team it lost to by 30 points on Friday. Limiting the Tigers — they have not won an ACAC title this century — to one opportunity on the offensive end will be key, said McIntire.

“If they miss, we have to get the rebound,” she added. “We cannot give them second, third and fourth opportunities or its gonna be a long night for us. So we have to do better about keeping them off the boards …

“If we have a chance to win, which I feel like we do, that will be a key right there.”