Rebounding has been a strength for the Calvary Lutheran Lady Lions. Not so much for the Jamestown Lady Eagles.
That contrast came back to bite Jamestown on Friday as Calvary finished off a perfect CCAA conference season with a 52-33 win.
"It's probably our best advantage," Calvary coach Bethany Marble said of rebounding. "It's not so much our size. For the most part, we're pretty good at getting in position at getting those rebounds."
The advantage didn't show itself for much of the first quarter. Each team had eight rebounds about midway through the first.
"I thought we could get in this thing right away and who knows what can happen?" Jamestown coach E.H. Hirschvogel said.
But it didn't last.
Haley Braun, who had game highs in points (23) and rebounds (16), put through a second-chance basket for a 4-2 lead at the 3:07 mark. The game was never tied again.
Lily McCarty got the lead to 10-2 with a jumper off an offensive rebound and Braun added a free throw after another rebound to lead 11-4 after the first quarter.
"Overall it's just position," Marble said. "The girls just have to get in the right position to get those boards."
Then the Lady Eagles went to their strength: shooting 3-pointers.
McKenzie Hargis connected from deep to close the gap to 13-8.
Just as Calvary began to pull away again, Chiane Harlan drained a 3 from the corner to make it 21-16 late in the second quarter.
"Most of the time we rely on the 3-point shot just because it seems like we're undersized a lot of times," Hirschvogel said. "We were able to stay close and then the basket dried up."
Calvary was up 26-16 by halftime and 39-21 with two minutes left in the third quarter.
Jamestown switched from zone to man-to-man to start the second half in an attempt to contest Calvary's jump shot, but the Lady Lions scored six points in the first 1:30 of the third quarter.
"That didn't work," Hirschvogel said. "We went back to our zone and it was what it was. We felt really discombobulated there. I just didn't think we were communicating well enough to do it."
Emma Homfeldt made six of her last eight two-point attempts, including making five straight at one point. She finished with 15 points and five rebounds.
In the middle of the second quarter, Homfeldt went on an 8-4 run herself.
Braun mainly worked inside to shoot 11-of-16, but senior Madeline Wilson was able to knock down a pair of jumpers as well as grab 10 rebounds on Senior Night. Fellow senior Allison Procter, who's jumper made it 44-28 midway through the third, was honored along with Wilson prior to the game.
"Everybody is capable of hitting those shots and getting those points, whether it's one, two or three of them," Marble said.
Blake Scholl led Jamestown with 17 points and eight rebounds.
"I don't know that we played a bad game," Hirschvogel said. "We've just had a rough season, things haven't always gone our way, but we just need to be consistent. We're getting experience and we're playing better right now."
Jamestown (3-19, 0-2 CCAA) plays Tuesday at Higbee.
Calvary (14-6, 4-0 CCAA) will host Macks Creek on Thursday.