Lady Jays fall to Blue Springs South at Hoops Invitational

Nicole Martin of Jefferson City looks to the basket during Saturday night's game against Blue Springs South at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Nicole Martin of Jefferson City looks to the basket during Saturday night's game against Blue Springs South at Rackers Fieldhouse.

The opportunity was there for the Jefferson City Lady Jays.

The Blue Springs South Lady Jaguars went without a field goal for nearly 13 minutes against Jefferson City in Saturday's opening-round game of the State Farm Holiday Hoops Invitational at Rackers Fieldhouse in Jefferson City.

That's opportunity knocking for the Lady Jays.

But Jefferson City, who trailed 14-9 late in the first quarter when the drought started, couldn't take full advantage. By the time Blue Springs South made another basket, Jefferson City's lead was just seven points. And when the Lady Jaguars started hitting from the field, the Lady Jays couldn't answer as Blue Springs South captured a 43-34 victory.

"We had some good runs where we were clicking, but then there were some bad droughts," Jefferson City coach Kristie Douglas-Wiley said. "And then you throw in turnovers and it doesn't look very good."

Turnovers were a big factor Saturday. The Lady Jays turned it over 13 times in the third quarter alone on their way to 28 in the game.

"We were standing on the defensive end and that transferred over to the offensive end, which happens a lot in basketball," Douglas-Wiley said.

Jefferson City trailed 14-13 after one quarter before taking a 22-17 advantage into halftime.

A layup by Cloe' Lane halted the field-goal drought by Blue Springs with 5:50 to go in the third quarter. The Lady Jaguars missed 18 straight shots before Lane's bucket.

The third quarter ended with an 11-2 run by the Lady Jaguars, who took a 37-30 lead into the final period.

"We had so many breakdowns on defense, you're going to have the outcome we had in this game," Douglas-Wiley said.

Jefferson City, which finished 12-of-32 from the field, trailed by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter.

Megan Foster had 10 points to pace the Lady Jays, while Lexi Haug totaled nine points and nine rebounds.

Tiffany Davenport finished with a game-high 14 points for Blue Springs South, who will play St. Joseph Benton at 5:30 p.m. today in the semifinals. Lane added 13.

Jefferson City will meet Fatima in today's first game at 2:30 p.m.

"We can't dwell on this one or we're going to have the same outcome," Douglas-Wiley said.