The Jefferson City Lady Jays are starting to put things together.
"I've been saying all along, when we are clicking on all cylinders, when all five on the floor are engaged and focused, we are a pretty good team," Jefferson City coach Kristie Douglas-Wiley said Monday night after the Lady Jays downed the Helias Lady Crusaders 46-31 at Rackers Fieldhouse.
After a slow start to the season, the Lady Jays have won eight of their last nine games. And this may have been the most complete performance in the streak.
"Tonight, for four quarters, we played hard," Douglas-Wiley said. "The effort was there, we hit the boards, we played good defense."
On the other side, the Lady Crusaders could do little to slow the Lady Jays.
"We got beat on both ends of the floor," Helias coach Doug Light said. "Plain and simple, they were the best team on the floor tonight. We can't make any excuses."
Jefferson City never trailed in the game. After a layup by Helias' Molly Sandbothe tied it at 4, Jefferson City closed the first quarter with a 7-3 run to take an 11-7 advantage. Megan Foster had four of her eight first-quarter points in the spurt.
The start of the second quarter was all Nicole Martin. The junior scored all of Jefferson City's points in a 9-0 run in the first 1:48 of the quarter to push the Lady Jays' lead to 20-7.
"We were ready, we came out with a lot of energy," Martin said.
The Lady Crusaders couldn't find an answer to slowing Martin.
"She is so active inside," Light said. "You have to contain her, you're not going going to stop her, but you at least have to contain her, and we didn't do that."
Martin finished with a game-high 20 points.
"Nicole was huge for us," Douglas-Wiley said. "When Nicole makes up her mind to play on both ends of the court, she can be a phenomenal player."
Helias got no closer than 10 the rest of the game. The Lady Crusaders, who trailed 30-18 at intermission, were 4-of-21 from the field with 10 turnovers in the opening two quarters.
"We just got into a hurry and we weren't playing the way we normally play," Light said. "We were trying to force things too much. I don't know if we've had a game like this all year."
The Lady Jays wanted to pressure the Lady Crusaders.
"It gave us opportunities on the offensive end with easy buckets," Douglas-Wiley said. "We know we're athletic and we can pressure, we want to use that as much as we can."
Jefferson City led 38-24 after three quarters. The Lady Jays stretched that advantage to as many as 19 points in the final period.
"The girls were a little more focused tonight," Douglas-Wiley said. "Maybe we should think we're playing Helias every game because I definitely could tell a difference.
"This is how we should play every night."
Douglas-Wiley, in her first year with the Lady Jays, has had a definite positive effect on the program.
"Coach doesn't take anything," Martin said. "She makes sure we're all ready to play as a team, it's not about any individual."
Foster added 14 points for Jefferson City (12-8), which is back in action Saturday at home against Webster Groves. The junior varsity game will start at 1 p.m., with the varsity to follow around 2:30 p.m. It will be Senior Day.
Luci Francka, Darcy Baird and Sandbothe all had six points to lead the Lady Crusaders. Sandbothe also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
Helias (10-6) is back in action Wednesday night at St. Joseph's Academy in St. Louis.
In Monday night's JV game, Helias defeated Jefferson City 49-42.
Claire Ludwig had 11 points for Helias, while Olivia Johanns chipped in with 10. Shaina Anderson totaled 12 for Jefferson City.
Helias also won the freshman game 48-32. Caitlin Struemph paced Helias with 13 points. Corrin Lepper had 10 for Jefferson City.