Howard leads Jackson girls past Central

Jackson senior Ashten Howard knew she better make the shot or chase down the rebound at any cost.

With her team leading by a point, Howard unleashed a 3-pointer.

"I was open, so I shot it and prayed to God it went in, and it did," Howard said. "I felt it go off my hand right. I was like, 'Thank you.'"

Howard's basket padded the Indians' lead and they held on to beat rival Central 62-55 in girls basketball action Tuesday at the Show Me Center.

"A 3 can always be a game-changer, and that one was a big one at that point," Central coach Sherri Shirrell said.

Central closed to 54-53 on a Michaela Durham free throw. But Howard swished her 3-pointer with 1 minute, 23 seconds left to dampen the Tigers' rally hopes.

"That was pretty big because once you know that you've got a cushion, you're not as jerky," Jackson junior Landon Wachter said. "You can kind of relax and know that you still have a lead and play your game."

The basket capped an impressive second half for Howard. She went 7 of 9 from the field and 3 of 3 from the free-throw line after the intermission for 18 points. She finished with a game-high 29 points.

"She's very tall," Central sophomore Chelsea Pannier said of Howard. "You've got to stay on her the whole time. You can't let her drive around you."

Central (7-11) responded to Howard's 3 when Sadie Pittman hit a shot to cut the Central deficit to two points. Dru Haertling hit 1 of 2 free throws to push the lead to three, then Wachter missed the front end of a 1-and-1, giving Central hope.

But Meg Goodman and Farrah Malik both missed 3-point attempts, and Kaylen Knepp hit two free throws for Jackson (11-9) with 28.1 seconds left to finally extinguish the Tigers' rally.

"We've had a lot of close games this year, so I guess that's helped us out in the long run," Howard said.

Central opened the game with a nice run, hitting 8 of its 14 shots in the first quarter and taking a five-point lead into the second quarter. Even though the Tigers cooled off some in the second quarter, they entered halftime with a two-point lead.

But Jackson responded after halftime. The Indians forced six turnovers in the third quarter and opened a six-point lead.

"I think a lot of it in the second half is we kind of ran out of gas," Shirrell said. "We got a little tired. Some of the kids didn't come out of the game the whole time. The first half, we were moving the ball a little bit better, getting the open shots."

Wachter said her coach wasn't pleased with the Indians' first-half performance. Jackson responded by shooting 50 percent (13 of 26) from the field in the last two quarters.

"I think our enthusiasm for the game kind of changed," Wachter said. "We knew we had to come out and get pumped up if we wanted to take the lead. Coach told us it was up to us if we wanted to win this or not."

Central was forced into action without senior Wendi Zickfield, its top scorer and rebounder. Shirrell said Zickfield was involved in a car crash earlier in the day. Shirrell said that although Zickfield didn't sustain any serious injuries, the senior did suffer some whiplash. That left the Tigers short-handed in the post.

"It was a blow, but everyone stepped up to the plate and played well," said Pannier, who finished with a team-high 23 points.

Central1811719—55

Jackson13141520—62

CENTRAL (55) — Sadie Pittman 15, Farrah Malik 7, Chelsea Pannier 23, Michaela Durham 8, Amy Kinnison 2. FG 22, FT 8-13, F 15. (3-pointers: Pannier 3. Fouled out: None)

JACKSON (62) — Dru Haertling 5, Makenzie Quade 3, Landon Wachter 9, Kaylen Knepp 9, Ashten Howard 29, Whitney McNeely 7. FG 23, FT 11-17, F 14. (3-pointers: Howard 2, Wachter 1, Knepp 1, McNeely 1. Fouled out: None)