Morristown came to play at Monday’s 1A Sectional 60 semifinals hosted by Waldron. However, No. 5 Jac-Cen-Del withstood the Lady Yellow Jackets best punch and won 48-41.
This game was in stark contrast to the Eagles 30-point victory over the Stingers on December 11. Monday’s rematch heard on WRBI had nine lead changes. While all those occurred in the first half, the contest wasn’t decided until deep into the fourth quarter.
Morristown led for most of the first frame which included a 15-11 spread at the stop. The Jackets Nevaeh Sanders personally outscored the Nesters with 12 points in the period.
The two clubs swapped leads seven times during the second quarter, the last of which came on a Jac 7-0 run to give the Osgood gals a 30-26 advantage at the half.
Sanders had 14 points at the break. Annabelle Williams tallied 10 points for JCD. Teammate Reagan Hughes scored seven.
In the third quarter, Jalee Rider hit a deuce and Sanders made a free throw. The Eagles got the rebound off the missed second attempt then proceeded to hold the ball starting at the six minute mark. Jac-Cen-Del was up five at the time and Morristown did not come out of its 2-3 zone.
With 10 seconds left, the Eagles started its offense. Aundrea Cullen received the ball above the top of the key and sank a three to end the quarter. It was now 35-27 Eagles.
The Jackets, keyed by Reagan Kleine, made a run early in the fourth and pulled within two, but Jac-Cen-Del went on to win by seven.
For the Eagles, Williams scored 12, Hughes had 11 and Cullen collected nine. From Mo’town, Sanders had a game-high 17 and Kleine netted 10 with eight coming in the closing quarter.
The Yellow Jackets had a slight advantage in rebounds (27-23) and overall field goal shooting (43-36%). But Jac-Cen-Del outscored their opponents by 12 from the arc (15-3) and nine at the line (11-2).
In the first semifinal, No. 1 ranked Waldron held Rising Sun to just two points in the second half and won 53-11.
Four different Mohawks scored nine points: Hadlie and Hallie Ross, Mackenzie Shawe and Megan Bogemann. Only four players total scored for the Shiners who were led by Nora Powell with three.
Waldron forced RS into 27 turnovers and held the Sun to 14 percent shooting from the field.
Tuesday’s championship at 7 pm will pit No. 5 Jac-Cen-Del (19-6) against No. 1 Waldron (21-1). The winner will face the Clay City Sectional champion, either Bloomfield (11-11) vs. North Central (Farmersburg, 19-6) this Saturday in the second semifinal at the Southwestern Shelby Regional.
We thank Waldron AD Alex Engelbert and staff for the accommodations and hospitality. We also thank coaches Scott Smith and Rachel Kleine for their information.