Jackson girls top Oakville at MLK Classic

~ The Indians won a rare Sunday game, defeating Oakville 47-34.

ST. LOUIS -- If nothing else, the Jackson girls basketball team showed this weekend that they can win games in a variety of ways.

Lindsay Poole, Kelci Keith and Andrea Barnes combined for 16 3-pointers in a 70-52 victory over St. Charles in a shootout at Notre Dame on Saturday night.

Jackson converted on just five treys Sunday and struggled to score for much of the game. But the Indians forced 29 Oakville turnovers and defeated the Tigers 47-34 in the opening game of the MLK Classic at Maryville University.

"I couldn't point out one thing that we did really well today," Indians coach Sam Sides said. "We came off of a big second half [Saturday] and it was like we were half asleep out there today. Oakville is a lot stronger physically than we are and they did a good job of keeping us out of a flow. We were not as strong with the basketball as we needed to be."

Teams often struggle shooting on the bigger collegiate floor with a different depth perception, and that was the case for both teams Sunday. Oakville did not make a 3-pointer the entire game.

"[Saturday[']s] game was faster paced, and we were all shooting it well," said Keith, who had a pair of 3-pointers Sunday after hitting five Saturday. "This is a lot different than the high school gyms we are used to playing in, but you have to try to adjust. We did not shoot the ball as well today, but fortunately we had a good team defensive effort today and were able to come away with a win."

Oakville stayed with Jackson for the entire first half with some aggressive full-court pressure. The Indians led 23-20 at halftime and led by just two before Keith hit one of her 3-pointers to give Jackson a 28-23 lead early in the third quarter.

Oakville hit a field goal to get to within three points, but Jackson followed with a nine-point run. Amanda Peiffer hit a field goal with 2 minutes left in the third quarter to give the Indians their biggest advantage of the game, 37-25.

The Indians were held without a field goal until the final minute of the fourth quarter, but they hit six free throws and more importantly limited Oakville to five fourth-quarter points.

"We did execute well at the end of the game," Sides said. "We handled the ball better and made some free throws."

Peiffer was the only player on either team to finish in double figures. She had 10 points as the Lady Indians improved to 11-3. Poole and Keith each scored eight points and each hit two 3-pointers.

Nicole Norberg had nine points to lead the Tigers, who fell to 8-6.

"We always play hard, but lately we have not been playing smart," Oakville coach Ron Thompson said. "We forced a number of turnovers, but so many times we turned it right back over to them. And they did a better job of converting after the turnovers than we did."

Oakville 11 9 9 5 -- 34

Jackson 11 12 14 10 -- 47

OAKVILLE (34) -- Nicole Norberg 9, Maggie Zehner 8, Katy Simmons 6, Emma Kriegel 5, Kelly Gallagher 4, Jessie Werner 2, FG 11, FT 12 (3-pointers: none).

JACKSON (47) -- Amanda Peiffer 10, Lindsey Poole 8, Kelci Keith 8, Gabrielle Garritano 6, Ashley Charboneau 5, Cody Goodpasture 4, Andrea Barnes 3, Chelsea Bartels 2, Jenni Tenholder 1. FG 18, FT 6 (3-pointers: Poole 2, Keith 2, Barnes 1).