Hot-shot Indians blow past Scott City in physical FSCB quarterfinal

The seventh-seeded Scott City Rams emerged from a first-round victory to take on No. 2 Jackson in a First State Community Bank Holiday Classic quarterfinal on Sunday, but the favored Indians ran away early to take a commanding 66-41 win at Saxony Lutheran High School.

The Rams hounded Jackson early with both teams’ physicality drawing plenty of free throws, but the hot-shooting Jackson Indians turned up the heat with an onslaught of triples and tacked on a huge lead by the intermission.

“The girls played hard,” Jackson coach Angela Fulton said. “That's kind of what we're going for, you know? No matter what, we want to play as hard as we can, and I think everything just kind of flowed after that. The tempo kind of set the tone.”

Jackson and Scott City went back and forth early as the teams traded fouls, with both teams entering the bonus after just three minutes of play.

After a Scott City run drew the game back even at 5-all, however, the pressing attack of Jackson forced the Rams into a host of turnovers as the second-seeded Jackson closed out the first period with a 25-11 lead.

As Scott City began to break Jackson’s press, the triples kept falling for the Indians as Holland Guilliams and Lilly Watkins drilled 3-pointers to start the quarter and build on their lead.

Guilliams’ four triples in the second quarter pushed Jackson out to a 43-20 lead at the break, maintaining a firm edge after 16 minutes thanks to the heaps of turnovers it forced in the first half and a slick shooting effort.

“She's a great athlete, truth be told,” Fulton said on Guilliams. “I think the team saw her well tonight. She was able to capitalize on those open shots. She's a senior, so she kind of guides us, and sometimes she guides me.”

Both sides made it to the free-throw line a lot in the third quarter, with Scott City putting its toughest quarter of the half with a handful of buckets and making the most of its opportunities at the stripe.

Jackson upped its lead to 25 points after three quarters and closed out the win with another tough eight minutes to put the bow on a 66-41 win to advance to a Monday night semifinal against either No. 3 Saxony Lutheran or Woodland.

Guilliams’ 25 points keyed the way to a huge win against the Rams, and she received some helping hands from Camryn Alsdorf’s 11 and Lily Watkins’ 9 points in addition.

For the Rams, Lilyan Landis’ 14 points led the way while Mackenzie Lawless chipped in another 12 points to help push the Rams to a solid night offensively.

Having taken care of business, Fulton understands the tall tasks ahead of Jackson, starting with a semifinal matchup against one of two tough teams.

The squad will take a day to reflect on its Sunday night win before taking back to the Show Me Center hardwood for a marquee matchup with a championship appearance on the line.

“Same effort,” Fulton said. “Kind of what we’re gonna see. Saxony is a very good team, and so is Woodland. Either team, before we leave, we’ll go over gameplan strategies and kind of go from there.”