ST. LOUIS - When the game is on the line, you want the ball in the hands of a very good player.
Caitlin Anderson is a very good player.
So when Webster Groves was forced to foul in an attempt to get back into Wednesday night's Class 5 girls sectional contest at Maryville University, the Jefferson City Lady Jays made sure the ball was in Anderson's hands.
The Jefferson City sophomore went 13-of-14 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to answer the challenge as the Lady Jays held off the Statesmen 57-48.
"Caitlin's been sick since Friday," Jefferson City coach Brad Conway said. "But she really stepped up and knocked down some huge, huge free throws."
With the win, Jefferson City (25-3) advances to Saturday afternoon's quarterfinal against Kirkwood (25-3) at Lindenwood University in St. Charles. Kirkwood defeated Washington 65-51 in its sectional Wednesday night.
"Everybody's good right now, everybody's playing their best right now," Conway said. "Now it's a matter of getting two good days of practice to be as prepared as we can be."
It is the first trip to the quarterfinals for the Lady Jays since the 2005-06 season, when they went on to finish third in the state.
The Lady Jays never trailed Wednesday night. Micah Linthacum scored the game's first seven points for Jefferson City, which led 14-8 after one quarter.
The Lady Jays then outscored the Statesmen 15-10 in the second quarter on their way to a 29-18 halftime advantage. That 11-point lead turned out to be their biggest of the game.
"We talked at halftime how we should be ready for them to come out and make a run at us in the third quarter," Conway said. "And that's what happened."
Webster Groves opened the third quarter with an 11-3 spurt in the first 3:31. Suddenly, that double-digit halftime cushion was down to just three at 32-29.
The Statesmen shot their way back into the contest by going right at the basket.
"They did very good job on the dribble-drive, whether we were in the man or a zone," Conway said. "We got caught standing and watching them come at us."
This was a different Webster Groves team that lost 59-36 to Jefferson City earlier this season.
"We saw on tape the past few weeks they had really gotten aggressive on offense," Conway said.
Jaidah Stewart had 11 points in the quarter for Webster Groves, while Kalen Rodriguez recorded the other six as the Statesmen trailed 40-35 with one quarter remaining. A 3-pointer by Lexy Haug in the closing seconds of the quarter gave the Lady Jays that five-point advantage.
Webster Groves got as close as two at 50-48 when Rodriguez hit a 3-pointer with just under a minute to play in the game. But Anderson converted her free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
"We got enough stops when we needed them and Caitlin hit her free throws," Conway said.
Anderson finished with 26 points to pace Jefferson City, while Linthacum chipped in with 15 to go along with a game-high nine rebounds.
Conway said the win was a team effort.
"We had a lot of girls do a lot of things tonight that led us to this win," he said.
Stewart had 26 points to lead Webster Groves (17-12). Rodriguez added 16 as three other Webster Groves players had two points each.
Webster Groves missed its first 10 3-point attempts and finished just 3-of-18 from beyond the arc.
Game time is 2:45 p.m. Saturday.