JACKSON SWEEPS; LADY INDIANS PULL RANK ON BLUFF 57-33

Things fall apart.

Especially when the opposition's 3-pointers are falling in.

With less than two minutes left in the first half of the Class 4A, District 1 Tournament championship game Friday night, Poplar Bluff High's girls led Jackson 18-16.

One glorious, nearly flawless half later -- in which 3-pointers rained and turnovers were almost completely restrained -- second-seeded Jackson hoisted the tournament's championship trophy for the sixth time in seven years after a 57-33 victory at Cape Central's Tiger Field House.

Each year since 1991, Jackson and Poplar Bluff have met in the area's showcase tilt. Last season, it took Jackson two overtimes. The Lady Indians eventually finished second in the state tournament.

In the teams' last meeting this season, Poplar Bluff prevailed in two extra frames. Entering Friday, Jackson was 22-2 and ranked No. 3 in Missouri Class 4A, Poplar Bluff 24-2 and No. 4.

None of that mattered.

"I was really proud to watch them play tonight. It's a good feeling. I'm as happy as I can be," said Jackson coach Ron Cook. "We've got a good chance to win (the state championship) this year. A real good chance.

"The second half was probably one of our better of the year. I'd take it every game. The team came together tonight. Everybody pulled their load tonight."

It was quite a contrast to Jackson's semifinal game, a 37-36 squeaker over Cape Girardeau Central. In that game, Christa Millham, who had a game-high 17 points on Friday, was the only Lady Indian who scored more than seven points.

On Friday, four Lady Indians scored at least nine points.

"You could tell with the score, and how we played, and the enthusiasm on the court, that everybody was playing well together tonight," said Millham, who will play for New Mexico State next year. "It was really a team effort; everybody stepped up and played together well."

Jackson is eying a return voyage to Columbia. Up next is a sectional game at 6:30 Wednesday night at Farmington Civic Center against Washington (21-6), a 55-39 winner over Northwest-House Springs Friday night.

"I think the second half of the game tonight really shows the way that we're going to play the rest of the season," said Jackson guard Dana Eakins, who, along with Millham, hit three 3-pointers. Chrissi Glastetter finished with 13 points and hit two 3-pointers as the Lady Indians totaled eight from behind the arc.

Poplar Bluff's 33 points was a season low. The Lady Mules trailed 14-4 after one quarter, and managed just 15 points in the second half. Poplar Bluff shot 29 percent from the field.

"Our defense was real good tonight. I mean, we came to play tonight," Cook said.

Said Poplar Bluff coach Kirk Chronister: "We didn't execute real well, and that was due in part to the defense that they played. They played an outstanding game. I was amazed. Normally we shoot the ball better. We played a little tentative tonight."

Jackson trailed by two points after an 11-0 run by Poplar Bluff and a scoreless stretch of almost five and a half minutes in the second quarter. Glastetter made a jumper to end the dry stretch and later hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Lady Indians a 21-18 halftime edge.

Jackson hit five 3-pointers in the decisive third quarter. Millham and Eakins each hit two and Glastetter added one as the Lady Indians outscored Poplar Bluff 19-6. A 3-pointer by Eakins with five seconds to go gave the Lady Indians a 40-24 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Poplar Bluff came no closer than 13 points in the final period. Jackson outscored the Lady Mules 13-2 in the last 6:25.

"Except for the second quarter, it was probably the best game we've played as a team all year long," Millham said.

"I thought we moved the ball well; we hit the open person," Cook said. "We executed well tonight."