JACKON GIRLS PRESS ONWARD

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Maybe it was a good thing that Jackson got down early.

If the Lady Indians hadn't, they may have never gone to their full-court press which was the foremost reason Jackson (18-6) advanced the finals of the Class 4A, District 1 Tournament.

Top-seeded Jackson used a frenzied full-court press, a hot-shooting second half and numerous second-chance opportunities as it disposed of No. 4 Farmington (16-9) 63-42 Tuesday night at Farmington's Civic Center.

With Jackson leading just 24-22 at halftime, the Lady Indians shifted into overdrive the second half, outscoring the Knightettes 39-20.

The Lady Indians shot just 27 percent in the first half, but made 48 percent of their shots (12 of 22) in the second half.

The key was Jackson's introduction of the press.

"The strange thing about it was that the press didn't work against them the first two times we played," said Jackson coach Ron Cook, whose team split with Farmington before Tuesday night's game. "We were more aggressive this time."

The reasons Cook went to the press were simple: Jackson found itself in a 10-2 hole and they weren't aggressive.

"We needed to be more aggressive," Cook said. "As a coach, you try different things, it just so happened tonight that the press worked."

"I think his girls just played with more intensity," said Farmington coach Steve McFarland. "They just pressured better and we didn't react as well to it. We were expecting it, we just didn't react well enough."

Jackson connected on seven of its 12 shots in the third quarter, going on a 17-8 run and entering the fourth quarter with a 41-30 lead. Jackson forced six turnovers in the third.

In the fourth quarter, three 3-pointers, two by Whitney Werner and one by Jenna Leet hammered the nail, so to speak.

Leet's three with 5:50 left gave Jackson a 52-34 lead and the game was sealed.

Jackson was led in scoring by Leet's 22 points, while Werner added 15 and Andrea Koeper 13.

The Lady Indians got off to a horrible start. Jackson, which had a few good looks, failed to score a field goal on its first seven possessions, while Farmington made four of its first five shots -- including two 3-pointers -- to take a 10-2 lead with 4:13 left in the first quarter. Leet broke the field-goal drought with with 3:22 left to cut Jackson's deficit to 10-4.

Jackson used a full-court press and numerous second-chance opportunities to manage a 12-12 tie going into the second quarter.

The Lady Indians outscored the Knightettes 12-10 in the second quarter to take a 24-22 lead into halftime. Jackson could've taken a commanding lead if it had shot better (7 of 26 in the first half) and Farmington could've taken a commanding lead had it not turned the ball over so much. The Knightettes turned the ball over 13 times in the first half alone.

Lisa Boyd led Farmington with 12 points. Shana Hull added 10.