Central girls basketball team falls to Jefferson 49-47 in home debut

Too little, too late.

The adage best sums up the Central girls basketball home opener Thursday night against Jefferson.

The Tigers allowed Jefferson to build a substantial lead through three periods, then mounted a spirited rally that fell just short, losing to the Blue Jays 49-47.

"You've got to give [Jefferson] a lot of credit," Central coach Sherri Shirrell said. "They're an excellent defensive team, and they moved the ball well on offense. They're a good passing team."

The fact Jefferson (6-1) excelled at those two basic basketball tenets frustrated the Tigers (4-2) all night. Defensively, the Blue Jays switched between a pressure 2-1-2 zone and man-to-man throughout, throwing a wrench into the Tigers offense, which sputtered through the second and third periods.

Central’s Maddie Drum battles Jefferson’s Haley Null for a rebound during the fourth quarter Thursday.

"They switched their defenses on us all night long," Shirrell noted. "We had to adjust to that, and we didn't do that very well. And our defensive effort wasn't there all night."

Even when it was, the Tigers couldn't take advantage. Central held Jefferson to just six points in the third quarter, but managed just two themselves as the Blue Jays opened a 34-25 lead.

Jefferson coach Jason Dreyer said switching his defenses wasn't necessarily part of his game plan.

"We usually don't switch it up as much as we did tonight," he admitted. "We did it because we wanted to stop No. 11 [Central's Bailey Kratochvil] and No. 5 [Alayah Cooper-Johnson]. And I thought, for the most part, we did."

Kratochvil finished with 12 points and Cooper-Johnson 11, but 10 of their combined points came during Central's fourth-quarter rally.

Central’s Kelly Morton drives between Jefferson’s Brooke Gray, left, and Bailie Settle during the fourth quarter Thursday at Central. More photos from the game can be viewed at semoball.com. (Fred Lynch)

"Our goal coming in was to stop No. 11 and No. 5. But three or four times we lost [Kratochvil], and I think every time we let her get loose she made a 3-pointer."

Kratochvil had four 3s, including two in the final period when the Tigers shaved a 34-25 deficit to 42-40 with 1 minute, 50 seconds remaining.

Jefferson went back up by four on Brittany Clemens' jumper from the wing, but Central's Kelly Morton, who led all scorers with 18 points, answered with a jumper of her own to make it 44-42.

Clemens then knocked down a pair of free throws and, after Cooper-Johnson did the same on the Tigers' end, Jefferson's Kristen Keeney canned two more to build the Blue Jays' lead back to 48-44.

The teams traded one point each before Morton scored on a layup with two seconds left. At that point, Jefferson didn't need to inbound the ball before the clock ran out.

"Coach was just telling us we need to slow down and take our time," Clemens, a senior guard, said about how the Blue Jays weathered Central's late rally. "We just needed to take our time and look."

Clemens had six points in the final period -- including 4 of 4 from the line -- to help her team hold off the Tigers' comeback.

Central had more field goals than Jefferson (19-16), but the game's big disparity was at the foul line. The Tigers were 4 of 6 from the line, while the Blue Jays hit 14 of 28 free throws, including 9 of 15 in the final quarter.

Cooper-Johnson led Central with 14 rebounds.

Jefferson 18 10 6 15 -- 49

Central 16 7 2 22 -- 47

JEFFERSON (49) -- Kristin Keeney 5, Brittany Clemens 10, Abbie Lalumondier 3, Brooke Gray 12, Bailee Settle 7, Haley Null 4, Caitlyn Wehner 7. FG: 16. FT: 14-28. F: 10. (3-pointers: Gray 1, Settle 1. Fouled out: none.)

CENTRAL (47) -- Abby Shupert 2, Alayah Cooper-Johnson 11, Kelly Morton 18, Bailey Kratochvil 12, Kadie Orenstein 4. FG: 19. FT: 4-6. F: 19. (3-pointers: Kratochvil 4. Fouled out: none.)

JV: Central won 53-49.