LADY INDIANS REFUSE CHARITY, ACCEPT VICTORY; JACKSON DEFEATS CAPE CENTRAL 39-35

It was perhaps the biggest shot of the game, and Michele Millham didn't even get to see it go in.

With the game tied 31-31 a couple minutes into the fourth quarter of Jackson High's game against Cape Central Thursday, Millham drove inside, was hit, and flung the ball toward the goal before her back slammed the floor.

Millham, Jackson's two-time all-stater, completed the three-point play and scored another basket with less than two minutes left, pushing Jackson past Central 39-35 before a nearly full crowd at Jackson High's gymnasium. The win clinched the SEMO Conference title for Jackson.

"I didn't even see it go in," said Millham, a 5-foot-11 senior. "A little help like that is nice in a game like this."

Millham led all scorers with 15 points.

"She's one of the three or four players that I like to have the ball at the end," said Jackson coach Ron Cook.

Jackson, 19-2 and ranked second in the state in Class 4A, needed all of Millham's help because it didn't help itself at the free throw line in the closing minutes.

After Millham's acrobatic basket with 5:44 left, neither team scored again until Millham hit another basket with 1:48 remaining to make the score 36-31. Because of its inability to score late in the game, Central (16-6) was forced to send Jackson to the line.

But the Lady Indians missed their first five free-throw attempts in the final 2:41. After a jumper by Central's Abby Harris made the score 36-33, the Lady Tigers' Amy Harris made a pair of free throws with 37 seconds to bring Central within a point, 36-35.

After Jackson's Christa Millham finally broke the drought by hitting the second of her two free throws with 32 seconds left, making the score 37-35, Central committed a costly turnover on its ensuing possession as it lost the ball in its backcourt.

Jackson's Dana Eakins then hit two big free throws with 23 seconds left for the final 39-35 margin.

"The things we usually have control of are playing defense and shooting free throws," said Cook. "Tonight our free-throw shooting let us down a little bit.

"This was a heck of a battle and you can't afford to make any mental mistakes at the end of the game, so were happy to win tonight. Central has a great ballclub and we match up so well with each other. We had a houseful tonight and this was great for girls basketball."

Central played well early and jumped out to a 10-2 lead and led 13-6 entering the second quarter. Central's Nichole Thiele, one of the area's top players, had eight points in the first quarter.

But Thiele, a guard, was held scoreless in the final three quarters as Jackson played better defense, especially in the second half. Central led 23-21 at halftime and the score was tied at 29-29 entering the fourth quarter. The Lady Tigers were held to six points in both the third and fourth quarters.

"Any time you can hold a team like that to 12 points (in one half), you've done a good job defensively," said Cook, whose team beat Central 46-40 in overtime in the finals of the HealthSouth Classic in late December. "We started putting more pressure on the guards. We did a good job covering Thiele."

Central was led by Laura Lukens' 11 points. For Jackson, Christa Millham had nine points and Mindy Myers played one of her best game's of the season and added seven points.

Central coach Paula Watkins, whose team started the season 14-2 and has lost four of its last six games, said her team played well.

"We were very competitive," said Watkins. "We played good defense and we blocked out well. We stuck to our game plan, but just had a few bad bounces there at the end. We got some good shots, but they just didn't fall."

Jackson won the JV game 44-27.

The Class 4A, District 1 tournament at Farmington, which includes Jackson, Central and Poplar Bluff, which is ranked seventh in the state, should be one of the toughest in the state.

"This was a really nice win," said Michele Millham, "but the third time around is going to be really tough."