The Jefferson City Lady Jays knew they would need to win the 50/50 balls Friday night if they were going to knock off the six-time defending Kansas 5A state champion Saint Thomas Aquinas Saints.
That’s exactly what the Lady Jays did down the stretch, as they outhustled the Saints to pick up a 55-51 victory at Fleming Fieldhouse.
“I told them tonight, ‘If you want to win this game, you have to get every 50/50 ball,’ and I thought our kids did a great job of getting most of the 50/50 balls,” Jefferson City coach Kay Foster said. “I called a timeout at the 2-minute mark just to say, ‘Take a breath, isn’t this fun? You’re playing with the No. 3 team in the state of Kansas that’s won nine out of the last 10 state championships and look where we are at. Take a breath and let’s win this game.’”
Gallery: Jefferson City Girls Basketball vs. St. Thomas Aquinas
Foster called the timeout with 2:05 on the clock with the game tied at 46 with Aquinas holding possession.
Jamya McPherson got to the line for the Saints and knocked down both to give them a 48-46 lead, but Hannah Linthacum responded on the other end by connecting on a layup through a foul off a Bri Avey assist to put Jefferson City back in front 49-48 with 1:45 to go.
After McPherson missed on the other end, Linthacum grabbed one of her game-high 12 rebounds and dished it up the floor. Reagan Nilges found Linthacum running down the lane for another lay in to push the lead to three with 1:10 left.
“We got back to doing more of our stuff and letting the kids make plays instead of trying to over-coach,” Foster said.
The Lady Jays came up with a key defensive stop and Lyric Hearn made 1-of-2 free throws to make it a four-point game with 48 seconds left. McPherson made 1-of-2 shots from the foul line to answer before Aquinas was forced to foul Lyssa Sportsman and send her to the line for the double bonus.
Sportsman missed both, but Linthacum won the 50/50 rebound and dished it to Emmarie Graham, who was fouled and sent to the line for two. Graham would make 1-of-2 to push the lead back to four.
The Saints were able to cut it to a two-point game with a Zoe Macrorie layup with 12.4 seconds left and they chose to foul Avey.
Avey made the first free throw before missing the second, but she hustled to the baseline and grabbed the offensive rebound, dished it to Graham and Aquinas had no choice but to foul her.
Graham sank 1-of-2 to extend the lead to two possessions and ice the game.
“This is a great win for us, they are the third-ranked team in Kansas and it was a close game last year,” Foster said. “Our only losses have been to ranked teams, and we’ve beat a couple ranked teams, but beating a ranked team like this it’s just a great team win. It’s a real confidence builder for my kids on just believing how good we can be.”
Aquinas jumped out to an 8-4 lead halfway through the first but Jefferson City followed with a big run to take control.
Graham started the run by cutting to the rim for a layup, Nilges knocked down an open 3 and Graham got another layup to fall with one second left in the first to send the Lady Jays to the break with an 11-8 advantage.
The run did not stop there, as Nilges opened the second with another 3 and Natyiah Ewing followed with a 3 of her own to give Jefferson City a 17-8 lead just more than a minute into the second quarter.
“It’s huge because Hannah is getting double and triple teams everywhere they go,” Foster said. “She does a great job of finding the open guard when she is doubled and the kids know that some games Hannah is going to get 20 and some games they are going to get 20.”
Aquinas quickly battled back to tie the game at 17 with a 9-0 run and would take a 22-21 lead into halftime.
The Saints led by six early in the third but a Hearn 3-pointer with 3:36 left gave the Lady Jays a 33-31 lead.
“That’s awesome for us and there is more to come from Lyric Hearn,” Foster said.
Jefferson City carried a 37-36 lead to the fourth and there were three lead changes leading up to the final two minutes.
Linthacum scored only three points in the first half but exploded for 23 in the final 16 minutes to finish with a game-high 27 for another double-double. Foster wanted her 6-foot-4 star forward to get aggressive in the second half.
“Halftime was emphasized very strongly about how we needed to be strong with the ball and take it to the rim because you’re 6-4 and their tallest player is 5-11,” Foster said. “… I would say that was probably the difference in the game.”
The Lady Jays (12-5) finished the night with 16 assists on 20 made field goals, led by Linthacum’s five.
Three players reached double figures for Aquinas (10-3), as Alex Crouse had a team-high 13, McPherson ended with 12 and Catherine Goodwin added 10.
Jefferson City, ranked No. 9 in Class 5, will be back in action Wednesday for a road game against Class 6 No. 7 Nixa.
Aquinas won the JV game 59-57 on Friday night. Deyja Mays led the way for the Lady Jays with 21 points and Aaleah Woodard added 12.