Jackson girls roll to 46-39 road victory despite flat tire

~ The Indians brushed off bus trouble and beat Parkway South.

A rocky start to the day had a happy ending in more ways than one for the Jackson girls basketball team.

The bus carrying the Lady Indians to St. Louis for Saturday afternoon's game at Parkway South had a flat tire in Pevely.

That caused a delay in the start of the game against the Patriots. But the traveling inconvenience did not affect the Jackson team as they won a hard-fought game 46-39.

An added bonus on the day was the news that Jackson earned the top seed in the Class 5 district tournament, hosted by Fox. The Indians will have a first-round bye in the six-team district and will open Feb. 22 against the winner of a first-round game between fourth-seed Central and fifth-seed Fox.

"We hope to peak at districts and just try to get better with every game from now on," said Jackson senior Gabrielle Garritano.

Garritano had a career-high 18 points Saturday against an aggressive Patriot defense.

"We haven't seen that much defensive pressure all year, especially in the half court," Garritano said. "We are going to see some more next week against Farmington and Hickman. I think that is going to help us be ready for the postseason."

Jackson was far from perfect offensively, as Parkway South's pressure defense caused numerous turnovers. The Patriots, who won the St. Francis Borgia Tournament last weekend, had a 24-23 halftime advantage.

But Garritano and Amanda Peiffer combined for six third-quarter field goals. Jackson had a 35-28 lead late in the quarter, but Parkway South hit two late field goals, one coming at the buzzer by Arriana Walker.

Patriot freshman Ashley Brentz then opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer and the game was tied.

Parkway South actually led by a point with five minutes to play, but Garritano hit back-to-back field goals to give Jackson the lead for good. Kelci Keith hit four consecutive free throws in the final minute to ice the game.

"It was good to see Gabrielle play so well today," Jackson coach Sam Sides said. "She has been struggling lately, but she played much more aggressively today.

"Parkway South is a very tough team to play. They take you away from what you do best. We didn't take many 3-pointers. We got some good inside play though from Amanda and Gabrielle, and we controlled the tempo the best we could."

Peiffer was the only other player on either team to score in double figures. She had 13 points for the Indians (16-5).

Caitlin Wagner, Emily Wagner and Walker each had eight points to pace Parkway South (10-12). The Patriots had a four-game winning streak broken Friday night at Lindbergh.

"We did a good job defensively," Parkway South coach Thomas Williams said. "We just did not hit our perimeter shots. We need to do that to be successful."

Jackson 46, Parkway South 39

Jackson 13 10 12 11 -- 46

P. South 13 11 8 7 -- 39

JACKSON (46) -- Gabrielle Garritano 18, Amanda Peiffer 13, Kelci Keith 4, Lindsay Poole 3, Andrea Barnes 3, Ashley Charboneau 3, Jenni Tenholder 2. FG 16, FT 10-15, F 11 (3-pointers: Poole 1, Barnes 1. Fouled out: none)

PARKWAY SOUTH (39) -- Caitlin Wagner 8, Arriana Walker 8, Emily Wagner 8, Ashley Brentz 5, Lyndsey Patterson 4, Molly Hollenbach 2, Gracie Haring 2, Brittany Brooks 2. FG 16, FT 4-6, F 16 (3-pointers: C. Wagner 2, Brentz 1. Fouled out: none)