Hannah Linthacum made it look easy.
The Lady Jays junior totaled 27 points and 18 rebounds Thursday night to lead Jefferson City to a 51-33 victory against the Battle Spartans in Central Missouri Activities Conference action at Fleming Fieldhouse.
“She’s a big target for every team, we know that,” Jefferson City coach Kay Foster said. “She’s a player that transforms us from being an average team with the potential to be very good.”
Linthacum, who has verbally committed to play at Missouri, can do a little bit of everything on the court.
“What other team in the state of Missouri is letting their 6-foot-4 player play on the perimeter?” Foster said. “She can handle the ball, she can bring it up the court, she can shoot a 3.
“She has the autonomy to do it all.”
Jefferson City led 7-4 midway through the first quarter before rattling off 10 unanswered points to take a 17-4 advantage. Linthacum put back a rebound to close the run, two of her eight points in the first quarter.
The Lady Jays then scored the first six points of the second quarter to stretch their lead to 23-4.
Jefferson City led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter before taking a 29-14 advantage into halftime.
The Lady Jays maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half. Jefferson City led by many as 17 and Battle got as close as 12 in the third quarter, which ended with the Lady Jays holding a 41-28 advantage.
The Spartans got as close as 12 again in the fourth quarter. The final margin of 18 was Jefferson City’s biggest lead in the fourth quarter.
“They kept it where it was a little uncomfortable,” Foster said. “They hit one or two 3s and it gets really uncomfortable.
After a slow start to the season, the win was the seventh in the last eight games for Jefferson City. The run has coincided with the return of Emmarie Graham into the starting lineup after an injury.
“The leadership aspect of her being on the floor, taking the burden off of everybody and putting it on her shoulders,” Foster said. “She makes a big difference.
“She was the missing piece to the puzzle. There are so many good pieces to the puzzle right now, we’ve got a little bit of everything. Everybody knows their role.”
Injuries early in the season helped the Lady Jays develop some depth that is paying off now.
“We basically have two starters coming off the bench, when they come in, we don’t lose anything,” Foster said. “We have a really nice rotation right now.”
Nautica Washington finished with 10 points to lead Battle (8-7 overall, 1-2 CMAC).
Graham added eight points, while Addison Morgan chipped in with seven for Jefferson City (7-9, 2-0).
“I’ve been saying since Day 1, we’re not playing for a record, we’re playing for a district championship,” Foster said. “Every game along the way is an opportunity to build toward that.”
The Lady Jays figure to get two good challenges next week. Jefferson City will host Nixa on Tuesday night before traveling next Friday to St. Thomas Aquinas (Kan.).
“Those are going to be two big tests to see where we’re at,” Foster said. “We’re looking forward to it.”
In Thursday night’s JV game, Battle defeated Jefferson City 27-21. Izzy Schmidt had seven points to lead the Lady Jays.