Oak Ridge rebounds after first quarter, earns spot in FSCB consolation final

The Oak Ridge Blue Jays defeated the Cairo (IL) Pilots 71-54 in the First State Community Bank Holiday Classic consolation semi-final on Monday at the Show Me Center. The ninth-seed Blue Jays had a slow first quarter and trailed the twelfth-seed Pilots 16-14 after the quarter.

Oak Ridge head coach Julie Ward said today was the first day of their school's Christmas break so she anticipated a slow start.

“We kind of came out a little sluggish in my opinion, slow on defense and slow work in the offense. But then, in the second quarter, they came out and started hitting their little short shots better,” Ward said. “They started working the ball around and their defense picked up. I knew it would be sluggish to the start, but I thought we finished well.”

Cairo lived from the three-point line in the first quarter but Oak Ridge took those shots away in the second and throughout the rest of the game. The Blue Jays outscored the Pilots 22-9 in the second quarter to take a 36-25 lead into halftime. Coach Ward said she was okay with the few threes Cairo made to start since the defense picked up and was able to stop those.

“That's a low percentage shot for my team personally and their coach said that they live and die by that three, so they're just gonna let him rip. So they weren't hitting all of them and I was willing to give up that low percentage outside shot,” Ward said. “They were shooting way out on the college three-point line. As long as we could pack in the paint and rebound I thought we had a good chance of getting up and staying up.”

The second half was the same business as the second quarter, with Oak Ridge doing everything right and Cairo getting nothing going at all. The Blue Jays held a 60-38 lead after the third on their way to an easy victory.

Oak Ridge will take on Meadow Heights in the consolation final on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.