It had been more than a week since the Jefferson City Lady Jays took the floor for a game.
And early in Saturday afternoon's contest with Saxony Lutheran, it showed.
The Crusaders scored the first eight points on their way to a 13-6 lead after the first quarter. But Jefferson City, ranked No. 1 in Class 5, outscored the visitors from Jackson 42-20 the rest of the way in a 48-33 victory in the Central Bank Shootout at Rackers Fieldhouse.
"Defensively, we really started to do a better job in the second quarter and that got us going," Jefferson City coach Brad Conway said.
The Crusaders were stuck on 17 points for nearly six minutes in that second quarter before scoring late to take a 19-15 lead into halftime.
"I think we were fortunate maybe to only be down four at half," Conway said. "But that is easy to make up a lot of times."
It took all of 1:30 in the third quarter for the Lady Jays to take their first lead of the game at 21-20 as Jefferson City opened the second half with a 6-1 spurt. Saxony Lutheran tied it at 23 with five minutes left in the quarter before Jefferson City went on a 10-2 run to close the period to take a 33-25 advantage.
"We were able to get out in transition and that got us some easier looks offensively than we were getting in the first half," Conway said.
Jefferson City led by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter.
Four Lady Jays finished with seven points or more Saturday.
"We got a lot of good minutes from a lot of people," Conway said.
Caitlin Anderson led the way with 13 points to go along with a game-high eight rebounds. Micah Linthacum came off the bench to add 12.
Laurel Mueller of Saxony Lutheran totaled a game-high 19 points, with 13 of those coming in the first half.
"We didn't do a very good job on her at the start," Conway said. "But once we started denying her the ball and keeping her out of the lane, our defense made it a lot more difficult on them."
Conway wanted to use the extended time away from games to sharpen portions of Jefferson City's offense and defense. But illnesses got in the way of that plan.
"We've been dealing with some sniffles and some colds and they've missed a little practice time in the last few days," Conway said. "To have the week off, which is really our last break this season, and have some kids miss time due to illness was tough.
"But it is what it is and we're ready for the stretch run."
Jefferson City (17-1) is back in action Thursday at Rock Bridge. The Bruins (16-5) are ranked No. 5 in Class 5.
"We're going to get back to our routine and get things going," Conway said.
The JV game will start at 6 p.m. Thursday, with the varsity to follow around 7:30 p.m.