The scouting report pointed the Jefferson City Jays toward defending Ben Walsh behind the three-point arc. Friday night didn't go according to that plan.
Walsh drained three of his game-high six 3-pointers in the first three minutes and the Rockhurst Hawklets never trailed in a 63-50 defeat of the Jays at Fleming Fieldhouse.
"I told them that we have to run him off the 3-point line," Jays coach Tony Phillips said of Walsh, who tied for a game-high 20 points. "He had six of the first 10 on two 3s as if we didn't know that he was their best player."
Rockhurst began the game on a 15-0 run, a stretch that included five turnovers and two missed 3s for Jefferson City.
"After that we played really well," Phillips said.
Brennan Jeffries knocked down a 3 from the right wing to cut the deficit to 10 at 15-5 and Ben Folz added one from there as well to cut it to 22-15 with 1:10 left in the opening quarter.
Rockhurst scored the final bucket of the fast-paced quarter to lead 24-15.
Jefferson City got as close as six when Brenden Hoener scored inside to make it 27-21 with 5:39 left before halftime. But Mason Thompson and Cashius Howell got rolling for the Hawklets on a 7-0 run.
Thompson finished with 16 points abd Howell added 12.
The score at halftime was 36-27, with Sterling DeSha making two free throws at the 1:33 mark for the final points of the half. DeSha tied for a game-high 20 points, putting in 8-of-8 free throws.
Jefferson City made all 10 of its free throws a day after it shot 10-of-14 at the line at Waynesville.
"We shot free throws well again," Phillips said.
The Jays pulled within six four times in the third quarter and trailed 48-40 entering the fourth.
A Jeffries 3-pointer and a DeSha floater quickly made it 48-45 in the first minute of the final quarter.
Then after a Thompson 3-pointer and a Rockhurst (14-11) steal, the Hawklets were able to drain a couple minutes off the clock before Folz added his second long-range shot of the game with about 3:20 left to get the Jays back within three.
That's as close at it would get. Howell converted a three-point play and added two more layups as part of a 12-2 run to close out the Hawklet's fourth straight victory against the Jays.
Jefferson City finishes the regular season at 12-13, the most wins for the Jays since going 18-9 in the 2015-16 season.
"We have gotten so much better this year," Phillips said. "We're starting to build a basketball program again."
The Jays, the No. 3 seed in the Class 5 District 9 Tournament at Battle, will take on the host Spartans at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Rock Bridge, ranked eighth in Class 5, is the No. 1 seed, while Sedalia Smith-Cotton and Hickman are seeded fourth and fifth, respectively.
"We've got just as much chance as anybody to go win that district tournament," Phillips said. "We have not played our best game yet. We have not put four quarters together. If we do, that'd be scary."
Rockhurst won Friday's JV game 44-33.
Seth Brooks and Parker Gourley each scored seven points for the Jays.