THEY'RE BACK: JACKSON GIRLS SOLVE GLENDALE, RETURN TO 4A TITLE GAME 51-40

COLUMBIA -- Last year Springfield Glendale had all the experience and it showed in a 71-66 win over Jackson for the Class 4A girls state high school basketball championship.

This season Jackson has the experience -- and it paid plenty of dividends for the Lady Indians Friday afternoon as they advanced to their second straight 4A title contest.

Jackson turned a close game into a rout during its 51-40 triumph over Glendale in the state semifinals at the Hearnes Center in Columbia.

The Lady Indians -- who are in their third consecutive 4A Final Four -- will carry a 27-2 record into today's 2:10 p.m. state championship game.

The Lady Indians' opponent today will be undefeated Gateway Tech of St. Louis, which beat Blue Springs 40-31 in Friday's other semifinal."It feels good to be back (in the finals) and it's nice to beat the team that beat us last year," said Jackson senior Michele Millham. "Hopefully this time we'll come out on top."Millham and fellow senior Shannon Perry have both been key contributors on all three Jackson teams that have advanced to the state semifinals. They were both all-staters last season, Millham making the all-state squad for the second time.

And that duo led the way offensively and on the boards Friday. Perry had 14 points and seven rebounds while Millham scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds in addition to dishing out four assists."We're comfortable playing on this floor," said Perry with a grin. "We're used to it."Carrie Colwell led Glendale (26-4) with 14 points.

The Lady Falcons had a freshmen and two sophomores in their starting lineup while the Lady Indians started three seniors and two juniors -- all of whom were key players last season.

Jackson coach Ron Cook believes that contrast in experience made a big difference, particularly during a crucial second-half stretch that broke the game open.

"They're a young team and they'll probably be back here next year," said Cook. "We've got a lot of experience and that helped us out."Jackson turned the tide with its full-court pressure defense after Glendale -- which trailed 17-16 at halftime -- had taken a 20-19 lead midway through the third quarter.

The Lady Indians then turned up the pressure and the Lady Falcons could not handle it. They had 11 of their 16 turnovers in the second half as Jackson took control.

Jackson scored the final 11 points of the third period to lead 30-20, then tacked on the first four points of the fourth quarter to open up a 34-21 bulge.

Glendale went scoreless for nearly eight minutes at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the final period."We played a lot better in the second half," Cook said. "Our press was effective. They turned the ball over a lot. Not to take anything away from them, but their guards are young and they had trouble with the pressure."Said Perry, "The press was definitely a factor. I think we surprised them with it."Glendale coach Nyla Milleson agreed that Jacksons press and the Lady Falcons' youth were major factors."It was a real good press. I thought we panicked a little bit and they got a lot of momentum," said Milleson. "Our youth showed a little bit. But 26-4 is abig accomplishment for this group. I don't think anybody but us thought we'd be back here this year."The Lady Indians got off to a strong start and led 8-1 early, but Glendale regrouped to pull within 10-6 after the first quarter.

Glendale tied the contest at 10-10 early in the second period. Jackson used a 7-0 run to go ahead 17-10, but Glendale closed the half with a 6-0 run to make it 17-16 at the intermission.

Mindy Myers, Jackson's other senior starter, scored all seven of her points in the first half to lead the Lady Indians.

Katie Handley hit two free throws just 18 seconds into the second half, giving Glendale its first lead of the game at 18-17.

The Lady Falcons had one more lead at 20-19 when Jackson turned the contest totally in its favor.

Millham hit a driving shot with 3:40 left in the third quarter as Jackson regained the lead for good at 21-20.

Forty seconds later, Millham banked home a 3-pointer that was probably a good omen for Jackson -- to put the Lady Indians ahead 24-20.

Sophomore Chrissy Glastetter -- who scored seven points off the bench -- got a conventional three-point play after an offensive rebound to give the Lady Indians a 28-20 lead and Perry's follow shot at the third-quarter buzzer made it 30-20.

Perry's basket and Christa Millham's layup after a steal early in the final period put Jackson ahead 34-20 and closed out the Lady Indians' 15-0 run that spanned two quarters.

Jackson coasted from there, leading by as many as 18 points."We're glad to be in the finals again," said Cook, whose squad was third in the state two years ago before finishing second last season. "Now we're looking to take that last step."