Jackson girls basketball team turns up defense in SEMO Conference win over Cape Central

Jackson girls basketball coach Tyler Abernathy has always emphasized defense to his teams, and Thursday night's SEMO Conference game was a clinic in that regard.

Junior Rylee Stafford poured in a game-high 11 points, and the Indians held Cape Central to seven first-half points, cruising to a 47-27 victory at Cape Central High School.

"That was it," Abernathy said about his team's defensive effort. "We wanted to set the tone defensively first. We wanted to allow our defense to get us some easy baskets on offense, and I thought we did that. By doing that early, it can kind of frustrate the other team. It kind of takes a little momentum away, so I was really pleased with the way we played in the first half defensively."

Stafford knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner to cap a 10-0 run in the first 3 minutes, 56 seconds of the first period. Stafford scored seven of her points in the first quarter and finished 6 of 9 (67 percent) from the floor. Jackson (10-3, 1-1 SEMO Conference) led 14-4 heading into the second period.

"She does a lot of good things on the floor," Abernathy said about Stafford. "I thought offensively she did a good job getting herself shot-ready, made a few shots early. She runs the floor really well. She plays really hard.

"Rylee played like Rylee. She's a good player."

Jackson's Rylee Stafford throws the ball inside during the first quarter against Cape Central on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2016 at Cape Central High School. (TRENT SINGER)

A trey from the left elbow pulled Cape Central (3-7, 0-2) within 12 points with 3:58 left in the first half, but Kayla Keith converted a putback off an offensive rebound and was fouled. She completed the conventional three-point play, sparking a 10-0 spurt for the Indians over the final 1:55 of the half. Jackson led 29-7 at the break.

"I thought we moved the ball pretty well, and I thought we did a pretty good job early on of offensive rebounding," Abernathy said. "We got a lot of second chances. They really packed it in and made us shoot from the outside. We made a few, missed a few, but I really thought our energy on that end was good."

The Tigers turned the ball over 16 times in the first half but were able to limit their turnovers to only four in the second half.

"For whatever reason, we came out and got rattled right there in the first half," Central coach Garrett Pannier said. "The whole first half, they just took us completely out of our offense. We didn't run anything that we were supposed to run on the offensive side, and we had to lean on our defensive intensity, which could have been better in the first half."

The Tigers shot 10 of 42 (24 percent) from the field and were led by 10 points from sophomore Abbie Reece. Garrett Pannier said his players are struggling to find confidence on the offensive end.

"We've got to be hungry. We've got to keep taking steps forward, and right now I think we're kind of complacent on a couple different things," Garrett Pannier said. "We think it's as good as it's going to get because in the past, it's been good enough. We've got to get over that hump to where it's not good enough anymore, and we've got to find that next gear.

"Right now we're struggling. We have individuals who can do that, but we've got to get the whole team on the same side of that idea."

Cape Central's Kassidy Pannier drives past Jackson's Nikki Sotak during the second quarter Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2016 at Cape Central High School. (TRENT SINGER)

The Indians were never threatened in the second half and led by as many as 28 points early in the fourth quarter. Keith and Abby Hermann each added eight points for Jackson, which finished 17 of 55 (31 percent) from the floor.

Kennett handed the Indians their first conference loss in a 48-43 decision on Dec. 14, and Abernathy knows his team isn't allowed the luxury of taking any conference game for granted.

"We needed to get that first conference win and kind of get headed in the right direction," he said.

Jackson 14 15 10 8 -- 47

Cape Central 4 3 7 13 -- 27

JACKSON (47) -- Rylee Stafford 11, Abby Hermann 8, Kayla Keith 8, Nicole Humphreys 7, Autumn Reid 6, Cassidi Tomsu 3, Mallorie Maintz 2, Randa Norman 1, Nikki Sotak 1. FG 17, FT 9-17, F 15. (3-pointers: Hermann 2, Stafford 1, Reid 1. Fouled out: None.)

CAPE CENTRAL (27) -- Abbie Reece 10, Kassidy Pannier 9, Corrie Reece 3, Abigail Dumey 3, Sydney Tollison 2. FG 10, FT 3-13, F 16. (3-pointers: Pannier 3, Dumey 1. Fouled out: None.)

JV -- Jackson won 42-35