Tigers outshoot Jay in ACAC title game

BERNE — The 1-3-1 zone gave the Tigers nightmares the first time the Patriots faced them.

In the rematch, they picked it apart as the Tigers caught fire from deep and outshot the Patriots all night to claim back-to-back tournament titles.

The Jay County High School girls basketball team couldn’t mount a full comeback or slow down the Bluffton Tigers enough on Saturday as it dropped the Allen County Athletic Conference title game 65-54 at South Adams.

The victory gave the Tigers (14-5) their second ACAC tournament victory with the first coming last year. Jay County (12-6) last claimed the title in 2025, which was its seventh total and fifth consecutive.

“Obviously disappointed for our kids,” said JCHS coach Sherri McIntire. “To get to the championship and not be able to finish is disappointing. … I think the difference in the game was the physicality. They were a lot more physical in this game tonight and we didn’t match that physicality.

“And also, they shot the daylights out of it. Sometimes you just gotta tip your hats because they shot the ball extremely well.”

Eight days earlier, Jay County beat Bluffton by 18 points after switching to a 1-3-1 zone defense in the second half to outscore the Tigers 39-25. The Patriots started with the zone set in the title match, but it wasn’t nearly as effective.

Bluffton hit four 3-pointers in the first half by penetrating the arc and kicking it back out. Khloe Dick did most of the damage from deep as she sunk a trio of triples.

With shots falling from the outside, the Tigers were able to drive with more success as the Patriots had to be ready to close out when the ball got sprayed. Konley Ault, who was named the Hilliard Gates Most Valuable Player for scoring 70 points in the tournament, took advantage of putting the ball on the court as she hit 4-of-5 drives to the cup.

In total, the Tigers shot 23-of-44 (52.3%) from the floor, while hitting 7-of-17 (41.2%) of their 3-point shots.

“We did a couple of things,” said BHS coach Doug Curtis. “First thing we did is, we made threes, which we didn’t the first time. The second thing we did was, we played catch back-and-forth and let their most athletic player play. So tonight we didn’t do that. We went after them in the gaps so she had to be behind or to the side all the time and then tried to play off one side more.

“That worked a lot better. She still got points obviously, because she’s so quick on the runnouts, we’re not going to stand somebody down (on defense). So when we do have those live-ball turnovers, it’s not good. But when we weren’t a live-ball turnover, it was good, because we weren’t play catch and letting her be an athlete all the time.”

By keeping the ball on one side of the floor, Bluffton prevented the turnovers that led directly to points for Jay County. The Patriots finished with just 10 transition points, despite getting 22 Tigers turnovers.

Jay County stuck with BHS the whole way through. The game was tied 25-25 at halftime, but the Tigers started the third quarter with a 9-0 run before Elizabeth Brunswick finally hit a 3-pointer to stop the bleeding. A 7-0 spurt by the Patriots left them one point short of the Tigers heading into the final eight minutes.

Ault split a pair of free throws to open the fourth quarter and Charlee Peters knocked down a pair to tie the game at 42-42 with 6:50 remaining.

The Patriots faltered again, giving up seven unanswered points — Ault had five on a pair of drives and a free throw while Carlee Strunk found the hoop on a third-chance opportunity — to go down 49-42.

Jay County again clawed back into the game to trail by just one point with 3:49 remaining, but couldn’t complete the comeback as Bluffton ended the game on a 14-4 run.

“I felt like we just struggled a little more finishing tonight,” McIntire said. “I felt like sometimes we’d get a good look and wouldn’t finish or wouldn’t make the right decision with the basketball and turn it over.

“I’ve still got to be pleased with our kids’ effort. It just was Bluffton’s night tonight. It wasn’t Jay County’s. We’re all disappointed, but we can’t sit and dwell on this. We’ve got to get ready for next week.”

Both teams had three girls score in double figures. Ault led Bluffton with 24 while Dick scored the final seven points for the Tigers to finish with 20. Strunk hit some key shots in the fourth quarter as well to finish with 16.

Karsyn Schwieterman ended with a game-high 25 points, but the Tigers held Hallie Schwieterman to just 11 points, seven of which came in the first half. Peters also just hit 10 points for Jay County.