CALIFORNIA, Mo. - Jefferson City's pressure defense was too much for Southern Boone on Saturday as the Lady Jays won 59-40 in the championship basketball game of the California Tournament.
The Lady Jays forced 17 turnovers and had four players record at least two steals.
The Lady Jays were able to use quick feet to surround the ballhandler and quick hands to tip the ball around and get steals.
"It got better every game," Lady Jays guard Megan Foster said. "We tried to stay focused on defense."
Southern Boone turned the ball over four times in a four-minute span in the third quarter that allowed Jefferson City to go on a 14-3 run.
Southern Boone's Skyler Beeson drained a 3-pointer from the wing to cut Jefferson City's lead to 31-25 with 7:27 remaining in the third quarter, but Foster quickly answered by hitting an open 3-pointer from the wing 15 seconds later to jump-start the run.
About a minute later, Lexy Haug scored off a Lady Eagles turnover.
The Lady Eagles' lone points during the run were from a Kylie Shoot 3-pointer to make it 38-28 with 5:27 remaining in the third quarter.
After a Nicole Martin basket, the Lady Eagles turned it over again and Haug eventually scored inside on a third-chance basket.
"For the most part I thought we were patient, we were getting good looks," Lady Jays coach Brad Conway said. "At times we got impatient, but when we start getting impatient we start doing some silly things and not executing very well. But for the most part I really liked our energy and I thought for the most part we did a pretty good job at blocking out and rebounding."
To cap off the run, Foster nailed her second of three 3-pointers following a Southern Boone turnover.
Alaina Allsbury had a game-high three steals. Haug, Martin and McKenzie Gourley each had two steals.
"We wanted to try to win the deflection war, and when we get deflections and we can get out and run, our defense can create easy options for us," Conway said.
One of Gourley's steals resulted in a pair of free throws for Martin, making it 51-35 with 5:21 remaining.
It was part of a 9-0 run for the Lady Jays that started with a Caitlin Anderson basket with 7:20 remaining.
To close out the run, Foster connected on her third 3-pointer and made two free throws to make it 56-35 with 2:23 remaining.
Foster went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
Martin scored a game-high 18 points and had six rebounds. Anderson chipped in nine points. Tayler LePage led Jefferson City with seven rebounds.
Jefferson City (14-3) will have some time to rest as it doesn't play again until Friday at Carthage.
Follow sports reporter Jason Strickland on Twitter for updates during games.