Mackenzie Strother reaches milestone in Jamestown win

Emma Homfeldt of Calvary Lutheran and Lexi Muri of Jamestown go for a loose ball during Friday night's game at Calvary.
Emma Homfeldt of Calvary Lutheran and Lexi Muri of Jamestown go for a loose ball during Friday night's game at Calvary.

Mackenzie Strother became the fourth Jamestown player this season to reach 1,000 career points during Friday's 81-50 win at Calvary Lutheran.

Lexi and Allie Muri, and Mickayla Strother all reached the milestone this season before Mackenzie Strother joined them by scoring 16 points Friday to make her total 1,001.

"It just proves that we really play as a team and we get the points distributed out, and that makes us really deadly," Mackenzie Strother said.

With Friday's win, the Lady Eagles have won 13 straight games, with their last loss coming Jan. 4 to Cole Camp to open the Stover Tournament.

Jamestown's defense only allowed 50 or more points in four of the previous 12 games before Friday.

The Lady Lions were able to shoot well against Jamestown, making 24-of-55, but Jamestown forced 24 turnovers to fuel Jamestown's scoring.

Calvary scored the first six points of the game against the fifth-ranked team in Class 1, getting buckets from Allison Procter, Madi Wilson and Becca Thompson.

Thompson led Calvary with 16 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Procter added 10 points and Wilson eight. Wilson also led with seven rebounds.

"It was fun," Calvary coach Jonathan Kueck said. "I knew as soon as they put pressure on us that we were going to have a tough time."

The lead wouldn't last too long, as a pair of free throws from Mickayla Strother with 5:57 remaining in the first quarter started an 8-0 run.

A Lexi Muri steal led to an Alli Muri three-point play to tie the game at 6 at the 5:05 mark and a Lexi Muri bucket gave Jamestown an 8-6 lead at the 4:38 mark.

"Credit to Calvary, they came out and shot the ball well and we had to make a couple adjustments defensively," Jamestown coach E.H. Hirschvogel said. "... The next thing you know it's 8-6."

Sam Gunn answered with a jumper to tie the game at 8 but a Lexi Muri jumper at the 3:48 mark gave Jamestown the lead for good.

Lexi Muri scored a game-high 17 points and had seven steals. Alli Muri scored 16.

Calvary had some JV players play significant minutes because of five injured varsity players.

"It was really tough for us," Kueck said. "I thought they handled it well."

Calvary only had two turnovers when it was 10-8 Jamestown, but the Lady Eagles' defense kicked it up after that to help finish off a 15-0 run and take a 23-8 lead.

Calvary finished off the final two minutes of the first quarter on a 6-2 spurt to get within 25-14.

The Lady Lions got as close as 25-16 after a Thompson jumper to start the second quarter, but a 12-2 Jamestown run extended the lead to 19 with 4:55 remaining in the first half.

Mackenzie Strother had three of her six steals during that stretch. Lexi Muri and Mickayla Strother each had a steal during the run.

Jamestown led 50-29 at halftime thanks to a Mackenzie Strother 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer.

That bucket got her to 13 points for the half, only two from reaching 1,000. She got one point away with a free throw at the 5:29 mark of the third quarter, but the second free throw was off the mark.

"I was fully aware because I missed one of my free throws and the crowd was like, "Aww' and I was,' Oh gosh, I'm one point away,'" she said. "I didn't know anything before that. I was told I wasn't going to get it."

She had to wait until the 5:45 mark of the fourth quarter to reach the milestone after missing six shots and two free throws. She knocked down a pair of free throws to make it 70-44 to make reach 1,001 career points.

"I felt bummed because I missed a lot before that, but it feels good now," Mackenzie Strother said.

Both Calvary (10-11) and Jamestown (20-3) will be in action Tuesday. Calvary hosts Missouri School for the Deaf while Jamestown plays at Higbee.

In Friday's JV game, Jamestown defeated Calvary 29-24.

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