The Jefferson City Lady Jays can scratch one off their bucket list.
The Lady Jays have had their problems finding success in basketball games against Rock Bridge in recent years. Heading into Thursday night's contest, this year's seniors were 0-for-6 in three seasons against the Bruins, who have won four consecutive Class 5 state championships.
Now they have one.
Jefferson City held Rock Bridge without a field goal for the final 13:30 of the first half, then held on late for a 40-36 victory at Fleming Fieldhouse.
"It's been a long time coming," Jefferson City senior Megan Foster said.
As freshmen and sophomores, Jefferson City dropped five games by an average score of 62-19 to Rock Bridge. Jefferson City fell 62-55 to Rock Bridge last season.
"Over the years, we've gotten a lot better," Foster said. "It's really sweet, I'm not going to lie."
The Lady Jays were confident heading into the contest.
"We knew it was a winnable game," Jefferson City coach Brad Conway said. "I was afraid we might come out too emotional, on too much of a high."
Jefferson City never trailed Thursday night, with early baskets by Tayler LePage and Nicole Martin giving the Lady Jays a 4-0 lead.
Rock Bridge got on the board at the 5:30 mark of the first quarter on a long jumper by Madison Treece to cut Jefferson City's lead in half at 4-2.
That's notable because that was Rock Bridge's lone basket in the first half.
"Defensively we were sound," Conway said. "We were in a good defensive flow."
The Bruins were 0-for-13 from the field in the final 13:30 of the half, missing inside, mid-range and outside shots.
"We wanted to lock down on defense," Foster said.
It was a team effort on the defensive side for Jefferson City.
"You can't key on one person, they have a lot of kids who can knock down shots," Conway said. "We just needed to try to limit them to one shot and get some rebounds when they do miss."
While the defense was shining, the offense was doing just enough for Jefferson City.
Jefferson City led 8-3 after one quarter and took a 14-6 advantage into halftime.
"It wasn't the half we wanted on offense, we needed to make better decisions," Conway said. "Scoring was at a premium."
Both teams started to get things going offensively in the third quarter. Jefferson City led by as many as 10 points in the period - that coming at 20-10 after a Foster layup at the 6:03 mark - as the Lady Jays held a 26-18 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Rock Bridge turned up the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter and that bothered Jefferson City for a stretch. The Lady Jays committed seven of their 17 turnovers in the final period.
"We didn't do a very good job at first," Conway said. "We were in a hurry and it was uncharacteristic for us."
The Bruins used a 6-1 run midway through the quarter to cut the Lady Jays' lead to 32-28 with 3:08 remaining. But a pair of Foster free throws and a Caitlin Anderson layup pushed Jefferson City's lead back to eight at 36-28 with 2:10 to play.
Rock Bridge had one last surge, using an 8-2 spurt to make it 38-36 with :07 left.
"We didn't want a close game at the end, but we found a way to close it out," Foster said.
The Bruins fouled Micah Linthacum and the freshman hit two free throws with :03.6 remaining to ice it.
"She stepped up and hit them in a pressure situation," Conway said. "She had a lot of confidence and looked good hitting them."
Foster and Martin finished with 12 points each to lead Jefferson City, while Anderson totaled 11.
"The girls really paid attention to detail," Conway said. "It's a good win for the kids and for the program. We're getting a good foundation built for what we're trying to accomplish."
Payton McCallister totaled 11 points to lead Rock Bridge (9-14).
Jefferson City has won 11 straight games to improve to 19-3 on the season. The Lady Jays are off until next Thursday when they host Battle.
In Thursday night's JV game, Jefferson City posted a 38-26 victory against the Bruins.