Lady Jays close out perfect CMAC season by dominating Hickman

Kara Daly of Jefferson City grabs a rebound during Thursday night's game against Hickman at Fleming Fieldhouse.
Kara Daly of Jefferson City grabs a rebound during Thursday night's game against Hickman at Fleming Fieldhouse.

Hickman scored eight points in the first four minutes. Jefferson City locked in after that.

The Lady Jays clamped down on the Kewpies, only allowing eight more points in the next 20 minutes in a 67-24 win Thursday at Fleming Fieldhouse.

The victory closed out a 6-0 record for the Lady Jays in the first season of the Central Missouri Activities Conference.

"I am so excited for my kids because they made history tonight," Jefferson City coach Kay Foster said, "and no one can ever take that away from them. They won the very first CMAC conference title outright, did not share, excited for them."

Hickman's Ella Rogers scored a quick five points to give the Kewpies a 5-3 lead a minute into the game.

The Lady Jays then took the lead with a 7-0 run, but Sophia Kluck scored on a reverse layup to get the Kewpies within 11-8 at the 3:55 mark of the first quarter.

Jefferson City took over from there. Kara Daly scored a putback and got a steal at the other end, Sarah Linthacum passed the ball out to Hannah Linthacum for a 3-pointer and the lead was 17-8 with two minutes left in the first quarter.

"Kind of refocused at the end of the quarter and then they locked in and they finished it real well the last three quarters," Foster said. " They came out and played defense the way we like to play defense."

The Lady Jays later got their hands on a loose ball and Hannah Linthacum capitalized with a layup. Daly added another second-chance basket to close the quarter on a 10-1 run to lead 21-9.

Jefferson City's defense stayed tough and active. Hannah Nilges went back-to-back possessions with a steal and layup and a Jefferson City block later led to a Sarah Linthacum layup to push the lead to 20 at 32-12.

Daly scored the half's final points by getting behind the Hickman defense in transition for a 43-14 lead.

"It's just a matter of moving all the time and moving without the ball and making reads on what is open," Foster said. "I think we're kind of hard to scout offensively."

Jefferson City (19-2, 6-0 CMAC) made 17-of-31 shots in the first half while its defense had a hand in 14 turnovers for Hickman.

In the third quarter, eight turnovers resulted in 15 points for the Lady Jays, who led 65-16 with one quarter remaining.

Four Lady Jays scored at least 13 points, led by Daly with 18 points. Hannah Linthacum scored 16, Nilges had 15 and Sarah Linthacum added 13 and a game-high seven rebounds.

Rogers led Hickman (6-15, 2-4 CMAC) with 14 points.

Jefferson City will turn its attention to the postseason. The Lady Jays are the No. 1 seed in the Class 6 District 9 Tournament and will host either No. 2 seed Capital City or No. 3 seed Sedalia Smith-Cotton at 7 p.m. next Thursday in the district championship game.

Jefferson City won Thursday's JV game 38-28. Lyssa Sportman led the Lady Jays with eight points, while Leah Kolb and Reagan Nilges each added seven points.