JACKSON AVOIDS DISTRICT DISASTER

It appears the state-ranked Jackson Lady Indians have Cape Central's number.

The number is four.

Jackson, ranked third in the state, fought off a spirited effort by the Lady Tigers to win Tuesday's Class 4A, District 1 semifinal 37-36 at the Tiger Field House. The victory was Jackson's fourth over the Lady Tigers this season.

"It's always hard to beat a team the fourth time, especially on their home floor," said Jackson senior Christa Millham. "They were really ready to play and I don't think we were quite as ready as we should have been."

The victory moves second-seeded Jackson (22-2) into Friday's 6 p.m. championship final against top-seed Poplar Bluff. The Lady Mules eliminated Farmington 63-46 in Wednesday's other semifinal.

"All I'm saying is we better be prepared to play Friday night," said Jackson coach Ron Cook. "We have to have kids step up. We can't just let one or two kids do it all."

Central, which rallied to take a four-point lead late in the fourth quarter, completed its season at 17-9. It was clearly one of the Lady Tigers' best efforts of the season.

"If this was a game back in January then we might feel satisfied, but at this point of the year, you can't be happy if you play well because when you lose you're done," said Central coach Paula Watkins. "It was a tough loss for us -- a tough loss. We thought maybe we had the win, but it sure didn't turn out that way."

Central would have won the game if not for the heroics of Jackson senior Christa Millham. The 5-foot-11 all-state guard scored the winning basket on an incredible shot with 28 seconds left. Millham then sealed the victory in the final seconds by blocking a shot under the basket by Central's Kim Aslinger.

Millham finished with a game-high 20 points and basically took over the final three minutes of the contest. Following a layup by Central freshman Katie Dougherty that put the Lady Tigers up 33-29 with less than three minutes left, Millham scored six of Jackson's final eight points. She assisted on the other basket.

Despite Central's lead late in the game and her teammates not stepping up with much offensive support, Millham still didn't feel any extra pressure to produce in the final minutes.

"I don't really think about things in that respect," Millham said. "You try to win the game and you do what you have to do to win."

Millham did just enough for the Lady Indians. After Dougherty's basket gave Central a four-point lead, Millham made two free throws then converted a steal into a layup to knot the score 33-33 with 1:54 left.

A free throw by Central's Sarah Bruening eventually put the Lady Tigers back on top 36-35 with just 52 seconds on the clock. But Millham wasn't done yet.

With time ticking down, Millham drove into the lane where Central's defense collapsed on her. Millham managed a twisting, off-balance shot from about seven-feet out that bounced off the rim before falling through the net.

"At the end when Christa hit that shot, I thought we played good defense," Watkins said. "She threw up an off-balance shot and it just happened to roll in."

After a timeout, Central got a good look at the basket when Aslinger dove into the lane on Millham. But once again Millham came up big, blocking Central's final attempt to preserve the victory.

Watkins wanted a foul called on the play, but the officials continued play. Millham grabbed the rebound and cleared a pass to teammate Dana Eakins, who was fouled with less than a second left.

When asked how she would have called the final play, Millham responded with a big grin, "It was a block."

After a sluggish first half in which Jackson led 19-13, Central won the final two quarters to make it close. Opening the fourth quarter, Jackson led 25-20, but an 8-0 run midway through the quarter put the Lady Tigers on top 33-29. Dougherty scored eight of her team-high 10 points to open the fourth quarter.

"We tightened up," Cook said. "You could see it on (our) face. We played like we were scared tonight; scared we were going to lose."

After dropping three previous games to Jackson, the Lady Tigers attitude going into the game was surprisingly upbeat.

"We believed more tonight that we had a chance of winning than we did in the other games (against Jackson)," said Watkins.