Jackson girls basketball team turns back Notre Dame

The Jackson High School girls basketball team led most of the way Thursday night but could not shake Notre Dame.

That left senior forward Connor King a bit uneasy.

"They kept coming back. We couldn't pull away. It made me nervous," King said.

Jackson finally was able to knock out the visiting Bulldogs 43-33 in a hard-fought defensive battle between two of the area's premier squads.

"They played really hard. I feel we played hard," first-year Jackson coach Tyler Abernathy said. "I expected just what we saw tonight, a defensive struggle."

The Indians improved to 4-1, while the Bulldogs fell to 3-3.

"It was a good game. It's always a good game against Notre Dame," King said. "It's a rivalry. It's nice to have consistent good games with them."

Notre Dame coach Renee Peters had few complaints with the way her undersized Bulldogs competed against the bigger Indians.

"Undersized is probably the key word," said Peters, whose tallest player is 5 foot 10. "We are little. But we have good athletes and good chemistry. The girls play hard."

The 6-2 King, who has signed to play for Southeast Missouri State, led all scorers with 14 points. She also blocked six shots and altered numerous others.

Senior guard Dru Haertling, who also has signed with Southeast, hit two 3-pointers and added 12 points.

"Jackson is a very good team, with two Division I players," Peters said.

The Indians got a big lift from junior guard Danielle Daume, who scored 10 of her 13 points in the second half.

Daume had eight points during the third quarter, when Jackson outscored Notre Dame 16-11 to grab a 37-30 lead.

"She is getting better every game," Abernathy said.

Senior guard Brooke Bohnert paced the Bulldogs with 12 points.

Jackson led 10-7 after one quarter thanks to King, who got off to a fast start with five points and three blocks.

Notre Dame grabbed its only lead of the night in the second period, a one-point advantage. There were also two ties in the quarter.

Jackson broke a 19-19 deadlock when senior Rachel Hodo hit two free throws with 46 seconds left in the half. They were Hodo's only points of the contest.

The Indians built a seven-point third-quarter lead only to see Notre Dame pull within a point at 30-29.

Jackson closed the period on a 7-1 run, capped by Haertling's 3-pointer at the buzzer following a Notre Dame turnover, to go up 37-30.

"I was just blessed to make it," Haertling said. "The girls played awesome. I'm so proud of them.

"We love playing Notre Dame. It's very competitive."

Notre Dame had a golden opportunity to put some heat on Jackson when the Indians were held scoreless for nearly five minutes to start the fourth quarter.

But the Bulldogs could not take advantage. They scored only two points during that stretch. They missed two front ends of 1-and-1 free-throw opportunities.

"The 3 at the end of the third quarter, which gave them a seven-point lead, was obviously big for us to overcome," Peters said. "We had chances in the fourth quarter but we just couldn't cut into the lead."

King's jumper with just more than three minutes left made it 39-32, and her layup about 30 seconds later gave Jackson its biggest lead to that point at 41-33.

Daume's layup with just less than a minute left finished the victory.

"It's a good win for us," said King, who lauded the Indians' defensive effort. "Our team defense is phenomenal right now."

Notre Dame 7 12 11 3 -- 33

Jackson 10 11 16 6 -- 43

NOTRE DAME (33) -- Brooke Bohnert 12, Madison Huckstep 2, Miranda Fowler 8, Shelby Beussink 7, Annie Siebert 4. FG 10, FT 11-17, F 13. (3-pointers: Fowler 1, Siebert 1. Fouled out: none)

JACKSON (43) -- Dru Haertling 12, Rachel Hodo 2, Connor King 14, Danielle Daume 13, Megan Williams 2. FG 16, FT 8-9, F 16. (3-pointers: Haertling 2, Daume 1. Fouled out: none)

JV -- Notre Dame won 46-34.