A run to the final: Jackson uses 16-0 run to overtake ND 56-50

~ The Indians will play Sparta in tonight's championship game. [Browse the tournament bracket at semoball.com]

Jackson junior guard Kelci Keith's 3-point shooting sparked a 16-0 run in the second half, as Jackson earn its fourth straight trip to the finals of the Saint Francis Medical Center Holiday Classic girls basketball tournament with a 56-50 win over Notre Dame at the Show Me Center.

Keith hit four second-half 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 14 points for the second-seeded Indians. Jackson (5-3) will face No. 5 Sparta in the finals at 8:30 p.m. tonight. Sparta used a second-half comeback to knock off top-seeded Farmington, marking the first time in the tournament's 11 years the top seed will not play for the championship.

"Shooting, it comes and goes," Jackson coach Sam Sides said. "I knew if we kept shooting eventually one girl would get a hot hand, and then Kelci came in and hit some 3's," Jackson coach Sam Sides said.

Notre Dame (6-2), the third seed, led by as many as eight points early in the third quarter before Jackson, led by Keith, got hot from beyond the arc. Keith hit three 3's in the third quarter, and Andrea Barnes and Lindsay Poole added one apiece. Poole's three in the final 10 seconds of the quarter cut Notre Dame's lead to 37-36 heading into the fourth.

Keith started the fourth quarter off with her fourth 3-pointer to give Jackson a 39-37 lead, and Jackson's defense took over from there. The Indians held Notre Dame without a basket the first five minutes and 40 seconds of the fourth quarter, scoring the first 12 points.

"I kept thinking we'd get a run whenever we started knocking down some shots," Sides said. "We can shoot the ball, but we shot poorly the first half. I thought if we kept shooting we'd get a run."

Following a three-point play from Poole with 5:05 remaining, which put the Indians up 48-37, Jackson went into a stall mode. Jackson used nearly three minutes on its ensuing possession, draining the Bulldogs of precious time.

Medlin got the Bulldogs on the scoreboard with a pair of free throw with 2:20 remaining, but the Bulldogs were already 11 behind by that point.

"The big deal was they reversed the ball and hit those 3-pointers, and that kind of took the wind out of our sails," Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim said.

Notre Dame did not help its own cause by going cold from the free-throw line. After hitting four of five in the first half, the Bulldogs missed their first four free throws in the fourth quarter, including two front-ends on one-and-one's. Overall, Notre Dame hit seven of 14 free throws in the fourth.

The Bulldogs cut the lead to 50-44 with just over a minute remaining, but Jackson was able to hit its free throws. Poole went five-for-five in the fourth and Jackson hit nine of 11 as a team in the final quarter.

"We'd been struggling with free throws, but we have some good shooters, so why we've struggled I don't know," Sides said. "We made some tonight when we needed to, which was key."

Poole finished with 13 points for the Indians and Gabrielle Garritano had 12.

Meridith Medlin led the Bulldogs with 15 points and Kristain Burger had 14.

Notre Dame will play Farmington in the third-place game at 7 tonight.

In the consolation bracket, Central and Perryville moved on with wins. The fourth-seeded Tigers will face No. 6 Perryville at 5:30 p.m. in the consolation finals.

Kendra Schilli led the Pirates with 18 points in a 68-49 win over No. 7 Woodland. Ava Johnson had 15 for the Pirates, and Nicole Gremaud and Alyssa Bauwens added 11 apiece.

Cortney Glastetter led the Cardinals with 16 points and Francee VanGennip had 12.

Central had 13 players score, led by Kristin Shirrell's nine points, in a 63-14 win over No. 8 Saxony Lutheran.

Kara Versemann led Saxony with four points.

Jackson 56, Notre Dame 50

Notre Dame 9 13 15 13 -- 50

Jackson 9 7 20 20 -- 56

NOTRE DAME (50) -- Meridith Medlin 15, Kristain Burger 14, Alex Fowler 8, Brooke Beussink 7, Claudia Brauss 2, Amanda Pleimann 2, Paige Schumer 2. FG 18, FT 11-19, F 14 (3-pointers: Fowler 1, Beussink 1, Medlin 1. Fouled out: Brauss)

JACKSON (56) -- Gabrielle Garritano 12, Kelci Keith 14, Lindsay Poole 13, Andrea Barnes 6, Amanda Peiffer 5, Ashley Charboneau 4, Cody Goodpasture 2. FG 19, FT 10-15, F 21 (3-pointers: Keith 4, Poole 2, Barnes 2. Fouled out: none)

Sparta 55, Farmington 52

Sparta 17 4 13 21 -- 55

Farmington 9 19 13 11 -- 52

SPARTA (55) -- Jasmine Penny 1, Rachel Peck 4, Jasmine Robinson 8, Lauren Buch 9, Wendy Dunn 12, Ashley Perry 19, Taylor Martin 2. FG 22, FT 11-20, F 11 (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

FARMINGTON (52) -- Natalie Sago 9, Taylor Jensen 4, Holly Russell 1, Briley Milfeld 8, Sydney Winslow 24, Tiffany Sucharski 4, Sarah Ward 2. FG 21, FT 5-8, F 16 (3-pointers: Sago 3, Milfeld 2. Fouled out: none)

Central 63, Saxony Lutheran 14

Saxony 2 6 4 2 -- 14

Central 16 16 23 8 -- 63

SAXONY LUTHERAN (14) -- Nicole McClard 2, Tori Ourth 3, Shelby Haupt 2, Laura Koenig 2, Kara Versemann 4, Tiffany Haertling 1. FG 4, FT 6-11, F 8 (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

CENTRAL (63) -- Christina Sexton 8, Kristin Shirrell 9, Sadie Pittman 6, Courntey Schuessler 1, Tierra Walker 4, Jenna Matthews 2, Lauren Kinsey 4, Pernille Hoj 6, Breia Twiggs 4, Mary Pearson 2, Taylor Kirn 3, Sarah Uptmor 6, Wendi Zickfield 8. FG 26, FT 7-11, F 17 (3-pointers: Shirrell 3, Sexton 1. Fouled out: none)

Perryville 68, Woodland 49

Woodland 8 14 15 12 -- 49

Perryville 6 28 18 16 -- 68

WOOODLAND (49) -- Kyla Choate 2, Rheanna Greer 3, Taylor Steckman 4, Tasha Lincoln 8, Francee VanGennip 12, Lauren Johnson 4, Cortney Glastetter 16. FG 17, FT 15-18, F 15 (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

PERRYVILLE (68) -- Alicia Kueker 4, Ava Johnson 15, Nicole Gremaud 11, Amanda Enlgand 2, Kendra Schilli 18, Alyssa Bauwens 11, Makenzie Schirmer 1, Emily Hanquist 5, Kim Miesner 1. FG 26, FT 9-14, F 17 (3-pointers: Johnson 1, Bauwens 1. Fouled out: none)