STOPPED IN THE SEMIS

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Entering Friday night's Class 4A semifinal game against heavily favored Parkway West, Jackson High girls basketball coach Ron Cook had one primary objective.

It was to control the tempo and keep things close entering the fourth quarter.

Cook got his wish. The Lady Indians were well within striking distance heading into the final period and they stayed that way virtually to the very end.

But Parkway West -- the state's top-ranked squad -- was able to hold on for a 44-40 victory at the University of Missouri's Hearnes Center.

The Longhorns will carry a 30-1 record into tonight's championship game against Springfield Kickapoo (26-4). Jackson (21-7) will play Lee's Summit North (24-5) at 9:30 tonight for third place.

"We were in the ballgame to the end," said Cook. "They gave us an opportunity by missing some free throws at the last to either tie the game or go ahead.

"I'm really proud of the girls. They did a super job with the game plan. They all did their best and that's all you can expect."

What a lot of people expected was a Parkway West blowout, as had been the case when the Longhorns blasted visiting Jackson 64-36 on Feb. 3.

But Parkway West coach Steve Baxter expected a tough contest for a couple of reasons. First, Jackson senior standout Andrea Koeper missed that earlier meeting as she had mononucleosis. Second, Baxter has all the respect in the world for the program Cook has built.

"We had a lot of respect for Jackson. Andrea Koeper wasn't there (on Feb. 3)," said Baxter. "I've watched Ron Cook's teams over the years. They're fundamentally sound.

"I wasn't surprised by anything that happened tonight, other than we didn't hit some of our shots. I expected a good game. That was just a hard-fought game."

The Longhorns had not experienced many down-to-the-wire battles previously this season. Only seven of their 29 prior wins had been by less than 20 points and only one was by less than 12 points (the lone loss was to Springfield Kickapoo by two points).

Jackson was able to keep things interesting to the very end thanks primarily to the dynamic one-two punch of Koeper and sophomore star Jenna Leet, by far the Lady Indians' leading two scorers on the season.

Koeper and Leet combined to put in all but four of Jackson's points. Koeper hit six of 11 shots and scored 17 points while also grabbing a game-high eight rebounds. Leet tallied a game-high 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting, including 4-for-9 from 3-point range.

"I thought we played very well as a team," said Koeper, Jackson's only senior starter who sobbed openly in the interview room following the game. "It was a hard loss, but everybody played their best. They gave all they had."

Said Cook, "Jenna has a really bright future and Andrea has had a great career for us."

Marie Franke, averaging just seven points per game, led the Longhorns with 15 points. Parkway West's top two scorers on the season, Division I signees Emily Jaskowiak (Tulsa) and Dionnah Jackson (Oklahoma), added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Asked if the Longhorns felt any undue pressure considering they are favored to win the state title, Jackson said, "We block it out and stay focused. We do what we have to do. Tonight our offense wasn't good but our defense stepped up."

Parkway West scored the game's first five points as Jackson looked a bit shaky early. But then things settled down and the game was close most of the rest of the way.

The Lady Indians grabbed their first lead of the night on a Leet 3-pointer that made it 6-5 with three minutes left in the opening period.

Parkway West led 7-6 after one quarter. Two Koeper free throws early in the second period put Jackson ahead 8-7, but that was to be the Lady Indians' final advantage of the evening.

Allison Jaskowiak's driving shot put Parkway West up 9-8 and started an 8-0 run. The Longhorns opened up a 21-10 lead late in the period and entered halftime ahead 21-13.

Jackson was hurt by 14 first-half turnovers but cut that down to four in the second half, which helped the Lady Indians stay within striking distance.

Trailing 33-27 after three quarters, Jackson pulled to within 33-30 on a Leet 3-pointer.

The Longhorns surged back ahead by seven, but Jackson refused to fold. When Koeper hit a pair of free throws with 2:01 remaining, the Lady Indians were within 39-36, much to the delight of their enthusiastic red-clad fans, who numbered several hundred.

Parkway West helped Jackson stay close by hitting just three of nine free throws in the final two minutes, including one of seven during one stretch.

Leet had a wide-open 3-pointer that would have tied the contest with 1:42 left, but it bounced off the rim.

Koeper's follow shot with 1:06 remaining pulled the Lady Indians back to within three at 41-38, but Franke hit one of two free throws with 59 seconds left and Jackson made a pair with eight seconds remaining to seal the verdict. Koeper put in a follow shot at the buzzer to account for the final margin.

"We played one of our better games as a team," Cook said. "We had some turnovers in the first half that hurt, but we didn't have as many in the second half. We won the second half, but we fell a little short."

Cook has now taken six Jackson teams to the Final Four -- all since 1992. The Lady Indians have finished second three times, third once and fourth once. Once again they will finish short of a state title, but Cook couldn't be prouder.

"I'm as proud of these girls as any in the past," he said.