Quick start leads Lady Jays past Lady Crusaders

Lindsey Byers of Helias brings the ball up the court alongside teammate Ellie Rockers during Tuesday night's game against Jefferson City at Fleming Fieldhouse.
Lindsey Byers of Helias brings the ball up the court alongside teammate Ellie Rockers during Tuesday night's game against Jefferson City at Fleming Fieldhouse.

It was a slow down on offense, make them play defense strategy.

But for it to work, at some point, you have to score points. The Jefferson City Lady Jays foiled the plan of the Helias Lady Crusaders on Tuesday night, jumping out to a 12-0 lead on their way to a 42-26 victory at Fleming Fieldhouse.

"It was a good start for us," Jefferson City coach Brad Conway said.

On the other bench ...

"We wanted to make them work for 25-30 seconds on each possession on both ends of the floor," Helias coach Alan Lepper said. "But we didn't get the movement we wanted on offense, we didn't do a very good job of screening to free up our shooters.

"And defensively, we were letting them get some good quick shots."

A 3-pointer by Greta Haarmann on the game's first possession gave Jefferson City the lead for good. Caitlin Anderson then got a steal and a layup to make it 5-0, before extending Jefferson City's lead with a pair of free throws.

Hannah Nilges' 3-pointer pushed Jefferson City's lead to double digits before a layup by Kara Daly made it 12-0 with 3:10 to go in the first quarter.

"At that point, you're just trying to fill in the hole you dug," Lepper said.

Helias got on the board on a 3-pointer by Meagan Engelbrecht before a short jumper by Lindsey Byers cut Jefferson City's lead to 12-5.

That brought a Jefferson City timeout.

"Our adrenaline was going, we might have been a little too excited," Conway said. "I think we got impatient, our shot selection wasn't the best.

"We weren't playing like ourselves."

A pair of Sarah Linthacum baskets closed the quarter to give Jefferson City a 16-5 lead.

Neither team got much going offensively in the second quarter. Jefferson City scored the first seven points in a 5:20 span to take a 23-5 lead. Byers then scored Helias' lone basket of the quarter with :17 on the clock to make it 23-7 at the half.

"We have to play harder in games like this, it's nothing big, but it needs to become a habit," Lepper said.

Both teams scored seven points in the third quarter, which closed with Jefferson City holding a 30-14 advantage.

"We just have a couple of bad spurts against them and you can't afford to do that against them," Lepper said.

The Lady Jays led by as many as 24 points in the fourth quarter, that coming a 42-18 after a short jumper by Linthacum. The Lady Crusaders then closed the game on an 8-0 run in the last 1:30.

"We got down, you're playing from behind and it's tough to play the way we wanted when you fall behind early like that," Lepper said.

In their first meeting - a 45-31 win for Jefferson City at Rackers Fieldhouse - the Lady Jays played a man defense. Jefferson City shifted to a zone Tuesday night.

"We've had some solid man games and some solid zone games," Conway said. "It's nice to be able to do both."

Anderson and Linthacum paced Jefferson City with 14 points each, while Daly totaled 10 rebounds and Linthacum had nine.

Jefferson City finished with a 29-17 edge on the boards.

"We really wanted to limit them to one shot and we did a good job of that," Conway said.

Byers finished with 11 points and five rebounds to lead Helias.

Helias (16-6) is back in action Thursday against Borgia at Rackers Fieldhosue.

"It's a bump in the road, our focus is now on Borgia," Lepper said.

Jefferson City (22-0, ranked No. 1 in Class 5) will play Thursday at Battle.

"All we talk about is next practice, next game," Conway said. "The girls are doing a great job of staying locked in."

It was Senior Night for Jefferson City, who honored Anderson, Haarmann, Micah Linthacum and Chloe Helming after the game.

Helming joined the program as a sophomore. But Anderson, Haarmann and Linthacum have been with the program for all four of Conway's years at Jefferson City.

"We had 12 or 13 freshmen my first year, those three have stuck it out and become the heart and soul of the program," Conway said. "They all bring something different to the table and all been vital to our success."