Loeffler's Link
As the basketball hovers above the rim, Kara Daly (14) and the Jefferson City Lady Jays eye the rebound along with Jaidynn Mason of Blue Springs South during the first half of Sunday night's game at Rackers Fieldhouse.
JEFFERSON BANK HOLIDAY HOOPS CLASSIC
Championship
Jefferson City 51, Blue Springs South 29
Third Place
Deer Creek 82, Blair Oaks 46
Fifth Place
Eureka 53, Helias 50
Seventh Place
St. Josepn Benton 42, Hickman 28
JOE MACHENS GREAT 8 CLASSIC
Championship
Father Tolton 59, Lausanne (Tenn.) 49
Third Place
Helias 67, Jefferson City 60
Fifth Place
Oxford (Miss.) 73, Blair Oaks 59
Seventh Place
Upper Arlington (Ohio) 68, Northmont (Ohio) 44
Dec. 29, 2019
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. --- Entering the 2016 Jefferson Bank Holiday Classic, the Jefferson City Lady Jays were hoping to end up with something besides a lump of coal in their basketball stocking.
It was 11 straight years of coal, 11 straight years without winning the event.
Wait long enough, however, and that coal will turn into diamonds ... it only takes a few billion years, that's all.
Makes 11 years sound a lot better.
Now, for the second straight year and third time in four years, the Jefferson City Lady Jays have hoisted the championship hardware as they flattened the the Blue Springs South Lady Jaguars 51-29 on Sunday night at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Coming up diamonds.
"We always circle this tournament on the schedule, because it kind of ends the first part of our season," Lady Jays coach Brad Coway said. "Now after Christmas break, we'll start the second part, then the third part is districts and hopefully the postseason."
Heading into the title game,Conway had some concern after a gritty 11-point semifinal win over Deer Creek, the top-ranked Class 6 in Oklahoma, on Saturday night.
"We talked about that (Sunday) at practice," Conway said. "Deer Creek is legit and it was an emotional game, and to come off that high and get re-focused isn't always easy."
Not to worry. This matchup between state-ranked teams was a mismatch.
The fourth-ranked Lady Jaguars (9-1) did have one lead, 2-0. But that was that.
Brooke Bates was the major offensive force in the first quarter for the top-ranked Lady Jays (10-0), as she canned three 3-pointers and scored eight points of her 11 points in a 10-1 surge to give Jefferson City a 10-3 lead.
"Brooke was huge for us early," Conway said. "It's the third time we've seen a defense where they stick a girl in the middle and basically dare her to take shots."
Truth or dare ... and Bates was the truth.
Chris Leuckel
Lady Jays steamroll to third title
in four years at Holiday Classic
The Lady Jays led 13-7 after one quarter and used a 16-10 scoring edge in the second a build 29-17 advantage at the half.
Comfortable lead, but ...
"I thought we could have been up 18 or 20, I thought we missed a lot of easy shots," Conway said. "But then we came out of halftime and ran a couple sets for Hannah Nilges and kind of got her going. She hit some shots and that opened things up for everybody else."
Nilges blitzed South with eight quick points to start the third, the lead blossomed to 37-17, and it was over. Jefferson City carried a 41-22 into the fourth on its was to the 21-point win.
The Lady Jays could have gone scoreless in the final quarter --- and still won by eight.
Kara Daly led the winners with 15 points and Nilges finished with 13, while Jaidynn Mason led South with 13 points.
"I thought it was a really good tournament, especially for us, because I thought we had two very challenging games," Conway said. "We're trying to get better, so it was nice to have those games where you had to deal with a little bit of adversity.
"But the girls fought through it and we were still able to come out on top. I think we learned some things about ourselves."
CRUSADERS TOP JAYS FOR THIRD PLACE AT GREAT 8
Third-place games often have the entertainment value of cottage cheese.
But there's a sure-first cure for that --- when it's Hatfields vs. McCoys.
Or, Jefferson City vs. Helias.
Always worth the price of admission.
The Crusaders took most of the fun out of it, however, until the closing minutes when the Jays made a late charge.
Helias built a 16-point lead heading into the fourth quarter before Jefferson City battled back to get within seven with less two minutes left, before the Crusaders held on for a 67-60 win in the third-place game of the Joe Machens/KRCG Great 8 Classic on Sunday night at Fleming Fieldhouse.
This was a night when the Crusaders (7-2) owned the first and third quarters, while the second and fourth belonged to the Jays (4-5).
Helias led 17-10 after one quarter, Jefferson City pulled within 28-25 at the half. The Crusaders opened up a 49-33 lead after three, before the Jays were able to cut the margin to seven. But they'd get no closer.
Marcus Anthony poured in 23 points to lead Helias, Malcolm Daivs hit four 3-pointers and tallied 14, and Damon Johanns added 12 points.
For the Jays, Brennan Jeffries scored 24, 19 of those coming in the second half, and Sterling DeSha had 11.
In the Great 8 championship game, Father Tolton beat Lausanne (Tenn.) 59-49.