COLUMBIA - It was pretty evident pretty early it was not going to be Jefferson City's night.
The Rock Bridge Bruins scored the game's first 17 points Friday night on their way to a 62-42 victory against the Lady Jays in the Class 5 District 9 Tournament championship game at Battle High School.
"Rock Bridge is really, really good and we picked a bad night to come out flat," Jefferson City coach Brad Conway said.
The Bruins set the tone in the first 90 seconds. Rock Bridge won the opening tip and scored on the second offensive rebound of the possession. Jefferson City then turned it over on its first two possessions, which Rock Bridge converted into a pair of 3-pointers to make it 8-0. It was the last time the margin was in single digits.
"We were flat, deer in the headlights," Conway said. "They had more energy than we did at the beginning."
The Bruins hit two more 3s to take a 14-0 lead when the Lady Jays called a timeout. It was 17-0 before Jefferson City got on the board on a layup by Sarah Linthacum with 4:20 remaining in the first quarter, which ended with Rock Bridge holding a 25-4 lead.
Jefferson City finished the quarter with five turnovers. They had only four the remaining three quarters.
"We played better the last three quarters, but we'd dug ourselves such a big hole, it was hard to overcome," Conway said.
Three Rock Bridge players had two 3-pointers each in the first quarter as the Bruins opened 6-of-10 from distance.
"Their kids shot the 3 very well, it was not just one or two of them, it was a lot of them," Conway said.
Conway said the Lady Jays were expecting the Bruins to shoot from the outside.
"We knew they were going to shoot the 3, we knew a lot of things they were going to want to do," he said. "We just weren't willing to get out on the shooters because we were afraid to get beat off the dribble."
The two teams swapped points for much of the second quarter as Rock Bridge took a 39-17 lead into halftime. Rock Bridge's 39 points were more than Jefferson City had allowed in 16 games this season.
"We were missing too many second chances," Conway said. "It was one of those nights where the ball was falling for them and not much was falling for us."
It was not a happy group at intermission.
"We were kind of ticked off, but by that time, it was kind of too late," Conway said.
Rock Bridge led by as many as 28 points in the third quarter, that coming when the Bruins took a 54-26 lead on a 3-pointer with :20 remaining that capped a possession lasting more than two minutes.
Jefferson City opened the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run to make it 54-37, the closest the Lady Jays had been since midway through the second quarter. But they could get no closer as the Bruins posted the 20-point victory.
Eryn Puett led three Bruins in double figures with 19 points, all in the first half. Sanaa' St. Andre added 16, while Averi Kroenke totaled 15.
Third-ranked Rock Bridge (20-5) will face sixth-ranked Ozark (22-6) in the sectionals Wednesday night at Camdenton. Game time is 6 p.m.
Linthacum led Jefferson City (22-4) with 17 points and eight rebounds. Kara Daly added 16 points.
"This is one of the things I hate about coaching, the last game," Conway said. "You're around them so much for four months, building relationships."
It's the first time in four years the Lady Jays did not win a district title.
"I'm proud of what we accomplished this year," Conway said. "This team exceeded my expectations."
Jefferson City will return four starters next season.
"We've got a good nucleus coming back," Conway said.