The Jefferson City Lady Jays celebrate their district championship after rolling over Troy 39-23 on Thursday night in Wentzville.

Lady Jays defend their crown
with stifling win 39-23 over Troy

March 1, 2018

WENTZVILLE, Mo. --- Last year, Jefferson City won the girls district championship for the first time in eight years.

Well, the Lady Jays certainly didn't have to wait another eight to enjoy the next one.

That's because this defense is amazing, it's a defense that never rests. When the other team can't break 30 points, well ... good luck.

Using another stifling, shut-down, defensive effort, the surging Lady Jays --- now winners of 14 straight --- rolled over the Troy Lady Trojans 39-23 in the Class 5 District 7 championship game Thursday night at Wentzville-Holt.

"This feels really good," junior Caitlin Anderson said. "We worked really hard to get here this year, since we were graduating five seniors last year. So we were rebuilding ... but we still accomplished our goal."

The goal since Day One is defense.

"It's is our main point (of emphasis) at practice, for the most part," Anderson said. "We work hard on defense and just let our offense come to us."

To be sure, this offense won't remind you of the Golden State Warriors. But oh my, this defense ...

We spoke about opponents not scoring 30 points? Well, the Lady Jays gave up 48 this week --- in two district games. To put it another way, that's a whopping six points a quarter.

During their 14-game winning streak, they've held opponents to less than 30 points six times. In another game, they gave up 31.

"I'm super stoked about our defense," said Lady Jays coach Brad Conway, whose team will meet either Francis Howell Central (21-5) or Ft. Zumwalt West (8-16) in the sectionals at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Maryville University in St. Louis.

"I tell our kids, defense can lead to a lot of scoring opportunities. And when we need to get stops and really crank it up, we can do that --- and we did that tonight."

The good news for Troy (16-10) came in the first 40 seconds when Kamryn Mennemeyer scored on a short jumper to give the Lady Trojans a 2-0 lead.
The rest of the way, Troy went as 8-of-32 from the field and committed 18 turnovers.

The Lady Jays (20-6) took the lead for good at 4-2 after consecutive scores by freshman Kara Daly, who led the winners with 15 points.

"She really gave us a spark, early," Conway said. "She's capable of that and she's been able to do it a few times this year. She has really good hand-eye coordination, she rebounds well ... I'm super proud of all of our freshmen, they've really stepped up."

Indeed. Daly was one of three freshmen in the starting lineup Wednesday night for one of the best Class 5 teams --- ranked, or not --- in the state.

"They've really progressed as the season's gone on," Conway said. "I don't consider them freshmen anymore."

The game was mildly close and interesting through one quarter, as Jefferson City had an 11-6 lead. The margin was still only 21-11 at the half, but you basically knew it was over because of Troy's struggles on offense.

Anderson, meanwhile, went scoreless in the first half, which was a bit of a surprise --- until you realized she hadn't attempted a shot.

"I knew I had to get my teammates involved before I started," she said. "After halftime, everybody was going, so I had to turn it up and get going with them."

She did. Anderson scored eight of her 10 points in the third quarter as the lead grew to 33-19 entering the fourth.

"She ran the show and got her teammates involved in the first half," Conway said of Anderson. "She got them where they needed to be."

And Anderson did it on a night when she had an upset stomach, no less. She still played all 32 minutes.

"She's a great competitor, she hates to lose," Conway said. "She does what it takes to win, either on the offensive or defensive end."

The Lady Jays won with ease, despite not having the services of junior Greta Haarman --- one of the team's key components --- who was out with an ankle injury.

"She could have played if we really needed her to, but fortunately, we didn't," Conway said. "We'll give her a couple days off and hopefully, she'll be better by Sunday or Monday."

After winning its second straight district title, the Lady Jays are now seeking their second straight trip in the quarterfinals.

They want more than that.

"We can't let up," Anderson said, "because we want to get to the Final Four."

Maybe it will happen, maybe it won't. But this team has something most teams don't --- and defense, after all, wins championships.
Stay tuned.

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