Jackson sets the tone for top seeds

It couldn't exactly be called a holiday for the top girls seeds, but it wasn't far from it for the top-seeded Jackson Indians.

Jackson opened the HealthSouth Holiday Classic Wednesday by waltzing into today's second round with a71-27 victory over eighth-seeded Sparta (Ill.) at the Show Me Center.

The victory kept alive the tradition of higher seeds never having lost in the opening round of the tournament. For the books it was the 25th consecutive win by a higher seeded team in the seven years of the classic, setting a familiar tone for the evening.

Fourth-seeded Central ran the string to 26 with a 53-41 win over No. 5 seed Farmington in the following game. Second seeded Poplar Bluff then took care of No. 7 seed Perryville 58-46, and No. 3 seed Notre Dame defeated No. 6 seed Dexter 63-36 to extend the streak to 28.

Central (5-3) and Jackson (6-1) will meet in tonight's first semifinal at 7 p.m., and Poplar Bluff (5-2) and Notre Dame (2-4), last year's finalists, will follow at 8:30.

As for Jackson, senior Jenna Leet led 10 Indians in the scoring column with a game-high 15 points.

The Indians, ranked sixth in Class 5, are looking for their first HealthSouth title since 1996, the tournament's first year. For Jackson's seniors, it's last call for a HealthSouth title.

"We're wanting to win this thing," said Leet, a 6-foot forward who recently signed with Texas Christian University. "We want to end on a good note for our last time being here."

Sparta (6-4), playing in the tournament for the first time, struggled from the outset. Jackson took the lead for good when Leet hit a 3-pointer for the game's first basket at the 6:10 mark, sparking a 9-0 Indian run.

The Bulldogs struggled against an aggressive Indian defense from the start, never scoring more than eight points in a quarter.

Forcing turnovers and winning the war on the glass, Jackson launched 20 shots to Sparta's 10 in the opening quarter, which ended with the Indians holding a 19-7 lead.

Jackson rolled off the first seven points of the second quarter for a 26-7 advantage and the Indian bench began to empty. The Indians still led by 19 points, 32-13, at halftime but saw the lead expand rapidly in the third quarter. Jackson scored on 13 of its 16 possessions in the period and saw the lead grow to 57-19.

The win was the fourth in a row for the Indians, who suffered their only loss in the championship game of the Farmington Tournament to St. Joseph's Academy, undefeated and ranked second in Class 5. They've scored at least 70 points in all four games.

"We're a pretty experienced ball team," Jackson coach Ron Cook said. "We've been playing pretty good ball."

Jackson played its second game without point guard Katie Loos, who could be lost for the season with a knee injury suffered in a win over Cor Jesu. Junior Linden Hahs has replaced Loos, moving into the starting spot in Jackson's previous game, an 82-32 rout of Perryville.

"We came in off two really good wins," senior Whitney Werner said. "We're getting some chemistry going. Even though we lost Loos, we're still pretty strong."

Ashley Bartels added 10 points for Jackson.

Ashley Robison led Sparta with eight points.

"They're solid and a very physical team," Sparta coach Roger Gerlach said.

Gerlach and Sparta have faced their own adversity. The Bulldogs have played without what Gerlach expected to be his top scorer, who is ineligible. The team was also making a hasty departure after the game for a visitation for a classmate killed in an automobile accident.

"I'm sure we've got a lot of things more important on our minds than a basketball game," Gerlach said.

Central 53, Farmington 41

Alex Wieser and the Tigers have a winning formula against Farmington (4-4). Wieser equaled her 28 points she scored against the Knightettes last week as Central prevailed a second time.

Megan McDonald added 15 points but no other Tiger finished with more than three points.

Natalie Bess, 22 points, was the only Knightette in double figures.

The Tigers led throughout, leading 15-11 after one quarter and 27-19 at halftime. They took a 37-30 lead into the fourth quarter.

"I know we'll have to be ready to play tomorrow," Central coach Sheila Midgett said of tonight's game with Jackson. "Jackson is tough. They're really good defensively and they have so much depth."

Poplar Bluff 58, Perryville 46

The Mules built a 35-21 halftime lead as they marched into the semifinals.

Poplar Bluff, which has won four of the six HealthSouth titles, used a balanced scoring attack to overcome a game-high 29 points by Perryville's April Lorenz.

Maggie Welchhance and Francis Kalich each tallied 14 points for the Mules while Lauren Shelton finished with 10.

Amber Hacker added 12 points for Perryville (4-2) but no other Pirates scored more than two points.

Notre Dame 63, Dexter 36

Defending champion Notre Dame (2-4) used 23 points from Ashley Millham and a strong showing on the boards to hand Dexter (5-1) its first loss.

Notre Dame led 16-11 at the end of the first quarter and 27-22 at halftime before pulling away. The Bulldogs outscored Dexter 36-14 in the second half.

Notre Dame had 23 offensive rebounds and 41 rebounds overall.

"Even though they were bigger than us, it was the first team we really outrebounded," Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim said. "I have to give the kids credit for working hard and blocking out. I also thought they played a great game defensively."

Amy Rose and Katie Dunlap each scored 10 points for Dexter.

jbreer@semissourian.com

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