Jackson clips Perryville; ND advances with rout

Ava Johnson didn't miss in the second half Thursday.

In fact, she hit her last 11 shots in the game.

The Perryville senior finished with 28 points, but it still wasn't enough.

Jackson withstood charge after charge by the Pirates to post the 57-52 victory in the first round of the Saint Francis Holiday Classic girls basketball tournament at the Show Me Center.

Johnson hit all eight shots she took in the second half. Thursday's game stood in stark contrast to the Pirates' season-opening loss to Notre Dame a week ago when Johnson failed to score.

"Ava was frustrated last game," Perryville coach Vicki Lohmann said. "They played a great defense on her. She was ready to prove herself. She's a senior and she wants to make a mark in Perryville history."

She made 13 of the 15 shots she took from the field against Jackson.

"We played a lot more aggressive than we did last game," Johnson said.

Jackson coach Sheila Haertling said her team needed to do a better job defending Johnson.

"She's a good player," Haertling said. "We should have shut her down. We didn't do a very good job on inbound plays, and that's where she got a lot of points. We should have picked up on that earlier."

Jackson (2-3) never trailed in the game after opening an 8-0 lead in the first two minutes. But that doesn't mean the Indians weren't tested. Every time they would pad their lead to double digits, Perryville would charge back.

"That's been one of our problems this year, getting up then we kind of back off," Jackson senior Ashten Howard said. "Then we have to try to fight back every time."

It was in the fourth quarter where Jackson had the most trouble fending off the Pirates.

Perryville (0-2) shot 6 of 12 from the field while Jackson hit 2 of its 9 shots.

"We'll start out and play great in the first half," Haertling said. "Then we'll come out in the third and fourth quarter and we're just blah. I think a lot of it too is we're not very patient. On offense, when we have the lead, we still have a tendency to force things and throw the ball away."

Perryville cut the lead to 52-47 with 1 minute, 10 seconds left, but Howard put up a shot, which she made, and was fouled. She converted the free throw to push the lead back to eight. Johnson answered by hitting a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to five points again, but Jackson's Whitney McNeely hit two free throws to ice the win with 26 seconds left.

Howard said patience is crucial to withstanding an opponent's rally.

"The key is not throw the ball away, not get in a panic, which we have a tendency to do," she said. "You just have to calm down and make good passes."

Howard led the Indians with 15 points, while Cassandra Bollinger added 12.

In other action at the tournament, top-seeded Notre Dame had little trouble with Saxony Lutheran, posting the 83-15 victory.

The Bulldogs opened a 50-9 lead at halftime, and increased it to 71-11 after three quarters.

Sophomore Allyson Bradshaw led Notre Dame with 19 points, while Jane Morrill added 14. Alex Fowler chipped in 11.

Kara Versemann led the Crusaders with five points.

Farmington, the No. 2 seed, opened a big lead against Woodland at halftime and held on for the 60-38 win.

Farmington employed some swarming defense to create offensive chances.

Taylor Steckman led the Cardinals with 16 points, while Lauren Johnson added 13.

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:Jackson 57, Perryville 52

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Perryville8141713--52

Jackson1514199--57

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:Perryville (52) -- Alicia Kueker 15, Ava Johnson 28, Hilary Hemman 2, Emily Hanquist 4, Natalie Bauwens 1, Samantha Amberger 2. FG 23, FT 2-6, F 13. (3-pointers: Johnson 2, Kueker 2. Fouled out: None)

Jackson (57) -- Dru Haertling 2, Landon Wachter 7, Kaylen Knepp 7, Connor King 4, Chelsea Bartels 6, Cassandra Bollinger 12, Ashten Howard 15, Whitney McNeely 4. FG 24, FT 6-9, F 12. (3-pointers: Wachter 1, Howard 2. Fouled out: None)

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@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:Notre Dame 83, Saxony Lutheran 15

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Saxony5424--15

Notre Dame23272112--83

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:Saxony Lutheran (15) -- Brooke Valleroy 3, Kelsey James 2, Emma Meraz 2, Kara Versemann 5, Brianna Lueders 3. FG 5, FT 3-6, F 9. (3-pointers: Valleroy 1, Versemann 1. Fouled out: None)

Notre Dame (83) -- Alex Fowler 11, Jane Morrill 14, Meghan Dohogne 6, Allyson Bradshaw 19, Katherine Blasiney 9, Lacy Boeller 9, Nicole Blattel 6, Kaelin Hale 3, Brooke Bohnert 6. FG 37, FT 6-7, F 4. (3-pointers: Bradshaw 1, Blasiney 1, Boeller 1. Fouled out: None)

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@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:Farmington 60, Woodland 38

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Woodland68168--38

Farmington13151913--60

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:Woodland (38) -- Kaitlin McCormick 2, Taylor Steckman 16, Lacey Moore 1, Lauren Johnson 13, Becky Brannon 6. FG 13, FT 11-19, F 13 (3-pointers: Steckman 1. Fouled out: None)

Farmington (60) -- Erin Littrell 8, Molly Barnes 20, Taylor Jensen 2, Chelsea Bertram 2, Morgan Ankrom 10, Whitney Heuring 14, Brittany Ernst 2, Holli Hoehn 2. FG 27, FT 6-11, F 15. (3-pointers: None. Fouled out: None)