Jackson girls knock off Mehlville

~ The Indians advanced to the Class 4 quarterfinals with a 45-35 victory.

FARMINGTON -- The Jackson girls basketball team used its 3-point game along with another strong defensive effort to push its way into the state quarterfinal round with a 45-35 win Wednesday over Mehlville in the Class 5 sectionals at the Farmington Civic Center.

Junior guard Kelci Keith hit three 3-pointers in the opening half as Jackson staked a 26-15 lead heading into halftime.

The lead grew to 16 points after three quarters before Mehlville stage a fourth-quarter comeback.

The Panthers got to within five points with 2:19 remaining, but Jackson was able to ice the game at the free throw line.

As was the case with the boys sectional, things started slowly for the Indians. Jackson scored the first basket of the game on Lindsay Poole's 3-pointer with 3 minutes gone in the first. The Indians slowly picked things up, though, thanks in part to Keith's sharp shooting.

Jackson's depth gave a much larger Mehlville squad problems. Even though the Indians were giving up as many as four inches on certain defensive matchups during the game, Mehlville did little in the paint.

Mehlville 6-foot senior Alyse Gordon led the Panthers with 13 pionts, but scored nine on 3-pointers. Kayla Gordon, also a 6-footer, had just six points, all in the fourth quarter. Five players scored for Mehlville.

On the other side, Jackson had seven different scorers. Keith led the way with 15 points. Ashley Charbonneau added nine points, six coming from the free throw line in the closing minutes.

The Indians managed only one field goal in the fourth quarter as Mehlville finally picked up its play. Mehlville started the quarter with an 8-0 run and finally got the lead down to single digits t 36-28 with a little more than 5 minutes remaining.

Free throws helped Jackson maintain its advantage down the stretch. The Indians hit 11 of 19 free throws overall.

Jackson (19-7) will play 2:45 p.m. Saturday against Normandy (19-7) at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Normandy beat St. Joseph 57-49.

Jackson, making its second consecutive postseason appearance after a two-year absence, will be trying to reach the state's final four for the first time since 2003. The Indians lost to St. Joseph in the sectional round last year.

Jackson 45, Mehlville 35

Mehlville 8 7 5 15 -- 35

Jackson 14 12 10 9 -- 45

MEHLVILLE (35) -- Alyse Gordon 13, Kayla Gordon 6, Liamesha Lewis 6, Laquish Lewis 2, Ashley Buehler 6. FG 15, FT 2-7, F 19 (3-pointers: A. Gordon 3, fouled out: A. Gordon, Kaylin Montgomery)

JACKSON (45) -- Kelci Keith 15, Amanda Peiffer 6, Ashley Charbonneau 9, Jenni Tenholder 4, Lindsay Poole 5, Cody Goodpasture 3, Ashton Howard 3. FG 15, FT 11-19, F 15 (3-pointers: Keith 3, Poole 1, fouled out: none)