Jackson girls basketball team fails to catch Fox in district final

CEDAR HILL, Mo. -- The Jackson girls basketball team buried itself in the first half of Thursday's Class 5 District 1 championship, and it proved to be the difference in the Indians' fate.

A nine-point deficit at halftime loomed larger after Jackson headed into halftime shooting at a 13-percent clip.

Izzy Farrell finished with a game-high 27 points, guiding second-seeded Fox to a 43-38 victory over the top-seeded Indians at Northwest High School.

The offense was far from high-octane in the first half, as Jackson headed into the break trailing 18-9. The Indians fell behind by as many as 13 points in the second quarter and shot 3 of 24 through the first two periods.

"I thought the key to the game was how we played early on because they're such a hard team to come back on because they've got such a good point guard who dominates the ball," Jackson coach Tyler Abernathy said. "I thought if we were down late and we had to trap her that we'd be in a little bit of trouble. I thought we played extremely hard, which allowed us to cause some turnovers and get ourselves back in it, but we just came out super, super tight.

"We really pressed on the offensive end and couldn't finish shots and missed some open looks."

Jackson’s Autumn Reid shoots during the Class 5 District 1 championship game Thursday in Cedar Hill, Missouri.BRIAN ROSENER ~ Daily American Republic

A steal by Cassidi Tomsu led to a fast-break layup by Rylee Stafford, pulling Jackson (22-5) within five points, 22-17 with 4 minutes, 1 second left in the third quarter. A driving layup by Farrell stretched the Warriors' lead back to nine before Tomsu knocked down a trey from the left key to pull the Indians within six heading into the fourth quarter.

Jackson fell behind by 11 in the final period before Kayla Keith capped a 10-1 run with a pair of free throws at the 2:22 mark of the quarter, trimming Fox's lead to 36-34.

Farrell's ball control proved to be the difference in the game. She controlled the clock and scored 13 of her team's 15 fourth-quarter points.

"You can see there's nothing fancy about our offense. It's Izzy, and get the hell out of the way and hope she creates," Fox coach Jeremy Donald said. "But we wanted to get her space all night on this big floor. It's an advantage playing on this floor because it's harder to guard somebody like that."

Farrell finished 7 of 13 from the floor to lead Fox (20-7). She was also 11 of 16 at the charity stripe. Ashley Ellis added 10 points for the Warriors, who shot 15 of 27 (56 percent) from the field. Fox committed 17 turnovers, compared to eight for Jackson.

"I thought that if the game would play itself out that we would have a good chance," Donald said. "... When you have the best player on the floor in Izzy Farrell, we just wanted to make sure the ball stayed in Izzy's hands in the fourth quarter so she made the decisions."

Tomsu paced Jackson with 10 points, while Stafford chipped in nine points. Keith and Autumn Reid each added eight points. The Indians shot 12 of 54 (22 percent) from the field and had two key chances to tie it up from 3-point range late in the game.

"I think we hit nothing but the backboard on both of them," Abernathy said. "You can't take away from what these kids have done. We just didn't play good tonight, and that happens sometimes in basketball."

Jackson’s Cassidi Tomsu, right, battles Fox junior Isabelle Farrell for a loose ball during the Class 5 District 1 championship game Thursday in Cedar Hill, Missouri.BRIAN ROSENER ~ Daily American Republic

The Indians graduate four seniors -- all starters -- from this year's team. Tomsu and Keith started all four years, while Reid and Mallorie Maintz are three-year starters.

"It's going to be definitely different when I write out the lineup next year, and I don't circle those names in there because it's just something I've done for so long. It'll be different," Abernathy said. "We've got some good, young kids. I like where we're going. We just have to keep getting better. That's all you can do is learn and get better."

Fox 12 6 10 15 -- 43

Jackson 4 5 13 16 -- 38

FOX (43) -- Izzy Farrell 27, Ashley Ellis 10, Mallory Denzl 4, Madison Mitchell 2. FG 15-27, FT 11-19, F 9. (3-pointers: Farrell 2. Fouled out: None.)

JACKSON (38) -- Cassidi Tomsu 10, Rylee Stafford 9, Autumn Reid 8, Kayla Keith 8, Abby Hermann 3. FG 12-54, FT 8-10, F 20. (3-pointers: Tomsu 2, Reid 2, Hermann 1, Keith 1. Fouled out: Stafford.)