Jackson girls basketball team advances to tourney final

Plagued by 10 turnovers alone in the second quarter, Jackson turned to Cassidi Tomsu to carry the load.

The junior netted 12 of her game-high 26 points in the second quarter, lifting the second-seeded Indians to a 59-36 victory over third-seeded Sikeston in the second semifinal of the Kelso Supply Holiday Classic on Thursday at the Show Me Center.

"Working altogether as a team is big for us," Tomsu said. "We knew that if we wanted to win this game that we were going to have to work together and be consistent on playing together."

Jackson (6-1) will take on Saxony Lutheran in the tournament's title game at 8:30 p.m. Monday.

"I think it'll be a really good matchup," Jackson coach Tyler Abernathy said. "They're a fantastic team. They're a veteran team. ... We're going to prepare hard, and we're going to give a pretty good effort Monday night."

The Indians went on a 9-0 run two minutes into the game before a pair of free throws by Ariana Beard gave Sikeston (1-2) its first points of the game at the 5:35 mark of the first quarter. Jackson closed the quarter with an 11-4 run that extended its lead to 20-8 heading into the second quarter.

"I thought there in the second quarter that they made us play a little faster than we want to play," Abernathy said. "... Still offensively, I felt like we had good possessions. When we did slow down, we outscored them because we took quality shots. When we take quality shots, we're going to be pretty good."

The two teams found the charity stripe early and often. The Indians reached the bonus with 7 minutes, 12 seconds remaining in the first half, while the Bulldogs found the bonus at the the 4:48 mark of the period. After turning the ball over nine times in the first quarter, Sikeston was able to cut its turnovers down to five in the second but couldn't be stopped by Tomsu, who was 3 of 5 (60 percent) from the field and 6 of 7 (86 percent) from the free-throw line in the second quarter.

"I thought what was big for [Tomsu] in the second quarter was, not only did she contribute a lot, but she kept from picking up her second foul. She played a smart quarter," Abernathy said. "She didn't get any cheap fouls. She was able to stay out there the whole time because she didn't pick up any cheap fouls."

Tomsu finished the game 8 of 14 (57 percent) from the field, while the rest of her team was 12 of 45 (27 percent).

"I thought for the most part [the shot selection] was pretty good," Abernathy said. "I felt like when we had bad possessions, it was because we turned it over, not because we took bad shots. I thought we made the extra pass. I thought we could have done a better job being shot-ready and expecting that extra pass to come, but other than that, I thought our shot selection was pretty good."

The Indians carried a 34-21 lead into halftime before the Bulldogs opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run, cutting Jackson's lead to 34-27 with 4:07 remaining in the period.

Nicole Humphreys gathered an offensive rebound with 25 seconds remaining in the quarter to cap a 7-2 run that extendd the Indians' lead to 41-29 heading into the final period. Humphreys finished the game with 10 points.

"We did have a bit of a rough patch in the third quarter, but we got through that," Tomsu said. "We just told everybody to calm down, and obviously it worked out for us."

After failing to score in the third period, Tomsu contributed eight points in the fourth quarter to help Jackson close out the victory.

A timely 3-pointer from Jackson's Kayla Keith, who had 12 points on the night, gave the Indians a 48-32 advantage midway through the period and forced Sikeston coach Matt Schonhoff to call his first timeout of the quarter. The Indians closed out the game on an 11-4 run.

"I thought we had quite a few kids make some big shots," Abernathy said. "We played hard defensively and executed the game plan. We followed the scouting report and tried to take them out of some things. We wanted to make them do some things they didn't want to do, and I thought we did a really good job of that."

Beard and Erica Peet each scored 10 points to lead the Bulldogs. Sikeston turned the ball over 23 times and finished 14 of 56 (25 percent) from the floor with no made 3-pointers.

The Bulldogs will take on Notre Dame in the third-place game at 7 p.m. Monday.

Sikeston 8 13 8 7 -- 36

Jackson 20 14 7 18 -- 59

Sikeston (36) -- Erica Peet 10, Ariana Beard 10, Alexis Boyd 4, Tyeshia Mitchell 4, Kiera Steward 4, Tyra Bonner 4. FG 14-56, FT 8-14, F 19. (3-pointers: none.)

Jackson (59) -- Cassidi Tomsu 26, Kayla Keith 12, Nicole Humphreys 10, Autumn Reid 5, Rylee Stafford 4, Rachel Crites 2. (FG 20-49, FT 16-24, F 15. (3-pointers: Keith 2, Stafford 1.)