Jackson secures third place with deadeye shooting on free throws

Jackson had its eyes on the Show Me Center Holiday Classic championship.

Those plans went out the window with a semifinal loss to Notre Dame.

But the Indians were still able to close out the 15th annual eight-team girls basketball tournament with a win thanks in large part to incredible free-throw shooting.

The second-seeded Indians went 31 of 34 from the line Wednesday to claim the third-place trophy by knocking off top-seeded Farmington 69-54.

Jackson improved to 6-3 while Farmington fell to 5-3.

"It was a good win," said Jackson coach Sheila Haertling, whose squad lost to Farmington 45-38 in the season-opening Farmington tournament. "We didn't play as well as we could have [in the semifinals], but Notre Dame played well.

"We at least came out tonight and got the job done. We're proud of that."

Senior guard Brooke Sanders concluded a big tournament with 29 points, 16 in the fourth quarter when she went 16 of 16 from the free-throw line. She was 21 of 22 from the charity stripe on the night.

"She's our best free-throw shooter," Haertling said. "She had a great tournament. She plays hard."

Sanders scored 60 points in the three tournament games.

"I've never shot that many free throws," Sanders said. "It was good to redeem ourselves."

Senior guards Kylie Seyer and Makenzie Quade added 14 and 13 points, respectively, for Jackson.

The squads were tied 24-24 at halftime. There were three lead changes and two ties at the outset of the third quarter before a 6-0 Jackson run put the Indians up 40-34 for the game's biggest advantage to that point.

Junior forward Rachel Hodo banked in a 30-footer at the buzzer to send Jackson into the final period ahead 45-40.

Jackson stayed on top and spent much of the fourth quarter taking time off the clock, forcing Farmington to foul. The Indians made 22 of 24 free throws in the final period to pull away.

"We just didn't want to turn the ball over," Sanders said.

Junior forward Morgan Ankrom paced Farmington with 16 points.

Jackson 16 8 21 24 -- 69

Farmington 12 12 16 14 -- 54

JACKSON (69) -- Paden Wachter 5, Rachel Hodo 3, Brooke Sanders 29, Connor King 4, Kylie Seyer 14, Danielle Daume 1, Makenzie Quade 13. FG 18, FT 31-34, F 20. (3-pointers: Wachter 1, Hodo 1. Fouled out: King)

FARMINGTON (54) -- Brittany Gladbach 8, Erin Littrell 3, Tayhlor Milfeld 6, Jessica Hicks 6, Sara Pinkley 2, Morgan Ankrom 16, Kelly Petersen 2, Rachel Williams 11. FG 14, FT 24-31, F 25. (3-pointers: Gladbach 1, Williams 1. Fouled out: Littrell, Milfeld, Hicks)