'Beautiful experience'

With the game well in hand, Sherri McIntire took a timeout to make substitutions.

For the first time during their year in the United States, Elze Pivoriunaite and Alice Ometti checked into a game.

Almost immediately, they put notches on the stat sheet.

The special moments for the exchange students capped off a 57-29 victory for the Jay County High School girls basketball team, which struggled to assert itself in the first half before eventually pulling away.

“That was fun,” said McIntire, whose team secured third place in the Allen County Athletic Conference behind Class 2A No. 6 Bluffton and Woodlan. “They’re just great kids. They come to practice every day and just bring a positive attitude, just fit right in. We’re just so thankful that they decided to play basketball.”

Jay County was up by 30 when Pivoriunaite and Ometti entered the game, with the latter grabbing a rebound on her first defensive possession. She snagged a second board on the next Heritage trip down the floor, and then Pivoriunaite came up with a steal in the waning moments.

“I didn’t realize, actually,” said Ometti. “I was just going and just doing what I could, but then when I realized, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, wow. I did something good.’”

Both players had their doubts when McIntire called them to head to the scorer’s table, but were happy to have the chance to write themselves into JCHS history.

“It was amazing,” Ometti said. “It has been a beautiful experience and I’ll never forget about it. I’m so glad I got this opportunity. 

“I was so nervous. I was really, really nervous, but as soon as I got on the court I had so much fun …”

“It was amazing, super stressful; I was super nervous,” added Pivoriunaite. “It was so worth it. All of the girls were so supportive.”

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JCHS girls basketball vs. Heritage (01/28//2025)

Much of the first half was a struggle for the home team as it fell behind 6-3 and struggled to shake its visitors, who entered the game on a 15-game losing streak. Heritage (1-18, 0-6 ACAC) stayed within single digits throughout the first half and was down 23-16 after Danica Fuller scored the first points of the second.

JCHS (10-11, 4-2 ACAC) — it was without junior Alexis Sibray and freshman Gabi Petro because of illness — finally put the game away as it held Heritage to three points over an eight-minute span bridging the third and fourth quarters. The home team scored 26 points during the same stretch, including the final seven in a row from Elizabeth Brunswick.

Hallie Schwieterman’s 17 points led the winning effort.

Brunswick added a dozen points on 5-of-10 (50%) shooting from the field while adding team highs of 10 rebounds and three assists.

“I thought Liz Brunswick had a solid game tonight,” said McIntire, who also got 11 points and eight rebounds from Amelia Heath. “I thought she did a good job when I took Hallie out for a little bit. She had to guard (Fuller); Liz did a really good job on her.” 

Fuller led an inspired effort for Heritage, which got its only win of the season 56-40 over Canterbury on Nov. 14. She hit consecutive 3-pointers to open the game and totaled 10 points, five rebounds and two assists.

The 29 points scored were 4.1 more than Heritage’s season average while the 57 points allowed were 4.6 less.

“There’s no doubt we play hard,” said HHS coach Nicole Sisson. “We don’t make excuses. We know the expectation is always to … give our best … 

“And Danica, our point guard, is a great example of that as our only senior. She kind of has a ripple effect on our whole team.”

Jay County was set to close its regular season Wednesday with a trip to Norwell before heading to the sectional tournament at Connersville next week.