Stoll, Lady Eagles come through in OT win
JASON LAWRENCE/DAILY FORUM
Jefferson senior guard Brooklyn Stoll goes up for a layup between a pair of defenders during the Lady Eagles’ 55-52 overtime win Tuesday night in Conception Jct. Stoll hit the game-tying three-pointer with 20 seconds to play in regulation and then nailed the clinching free throws with 3.8 ticks on the clock in the overtime period.
They say beating a team three times in one season is hard too do. That’s why the Jefferson girls’ basketball team took a different approach to its third meeting of the season with North Andrew Tuesday night.
“One of the things we talked about coming into tonight’s game was, ‘We don’t have to beat them three times, we just have to beat them once.’ We kind of took that approach,” Jefferson head coach Tyler Pedersen said. “… Teams are going to be more familiar with each other and familiar with strengths, but I was excited about that. I think they did a nice job of taking some of our strengths away, but we responded.”
Still the Lady Eagles (14-1) survived an eight-point fourth quarter deficit to beat the Lady Cardinals 55-52 in overtime — their eighth straight victory, including a 51-35 win over the Lady Cardinals on Saturday in the Stanberry Invitational Tournament title game.
“It was hard, but we came back,” said senior guard Brooklyn Stoll, who scored a team-high 15 points. “We were ready for it. We’ve been ready for it. We knew right after we beat them (Saturday) that we were going to have to face them in a couple of days. We were ready.”
Jefferson started out, opening up a 9-3 lead on the strength of a 6-0 run. The Cardinals closed to 14-13 with a 5-0 run of their own before sophomore point guard Kelsi McQuinn beat the first-quarter buzzer with a putback layup.
The Eagles then scored the first four points of the second quarter before a 7-2 North Andrew run cut the Jefferson lead to 25-22, capped by a short jumper by junior Katie Cole. Most of the Lady Cardinals’ damage came with junior center Jessie Henry and sophomore forward Kayla Schmitz saddled with foul trouble.
“Both those girls do a lot of defensive rebounding for us, they account for a lot of our rebounds,” Pedersen said. “I think it could have been a combination of the fact that we had a little more trouble (rebounding) and I just think they had some girls give outstanding effort on the boards. I was completely impressed. I think that’s the big thing, they got second and third chances a lot of possessions.”
After a layup by freshman forward Josie Deen, the Cardinals cut the Eagles’ lead to just 29-27 at halftime.
Jefferson started the third quarter on a 6-0 run, but North Andrew refused to go away, taking a 40-39 lead with 20 seconds left on a layup by Cole.
The Cardinals pushed their lead to 47-39 midway through the fourth quarter on a pair of free throws and another short jumper by Cole. A layup by Henry ended the run, and started the Lady Eagles on the comeback.
“We had to get stops,” Pedersen said. “I think the spurt where they went on their run, offensively we were just a little too hasty and took some shots (too quickly). We’ve got to understand and realize when a team’s on a run, maybe you want to get to the free throw line or get to the basket. We were settling for jump shots, but I think it just showed a lot about the girls staying calm. For young players to have that poise, I’m very fortunate.”
With 20 seconds left, and the Eagles trailing 49-46, Stoll drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key to tie things up.
“It was an outstanding shooting performance,” Pedersen said. “She hit some shots early then when through a stretch … missing shots she normally hits. A great shooter has a short memory, and she did an excellent job or stepping up there, hitting two of the biggest shots of the game.”
After a Cardinal turnover, Pedersen got a timeout in to draw up one final play with 6.8 seconds left. Sophomore guard Sarah Chor missed the game-winning attempt from the ring wing to send the game to overtime.
A putback with 3:10 to play from Henry gave the Eagles a 51-49 lead and then Henry fouled out on the next possession, giving the Cardinals life. However, they hit just 1-of-2 free throws, and still trailed by one.
Schmitz pushed the lead to 53-50 with under a minute to play on a jumper in the middle of the lane.
North Andrew again cut the lead to one, 53-52, and were forced to foul. After a couple of unsuccessful trips to the foul stripe, Stoll stepped to the line with 3.8 seconds to play and calmly knocked down both shots to seal it for the Eagles.
“I was just telling myself that I could do it and my team needed me,” Stoll said, “Just to relax and hit ’em.”
After Stoll’s 15 points, McQuinn added 11 and Chor finished with nine for the Lady Eagles.
Jefferson is back in action at 6 p.m. Friday night, hosting South Nodaway (13-2).
JASON LAWRENCE/DAILY FORUM
Jefferson sophomore guard Kelsi McQuinn gets out in front of North Andrew’s Kylah Todd and sophomore forward Kayla Schmitz (14) on her way to the basket in the Eagles’ 55-52 overtime win Tuesday night.
JASON LAWRENCE/DAILY FORUM
Jefferson junior center Jessie Henry followed up a missed shot in overtime with a rebound and putback as the Lady Eagles held off North Andrew, 55-52, Tuesday night for their eighth straight victory.
JASON LAWRENCE/DAILY FORUM
Jefferson sophomore guard Sarah Chor puts the shot up after colliding with North Andrew’s Katie Cole in the first half of the Lady Eagles’ 55-52 overtime win against the Cardinals Tuesday night.
JASON LAWRENCE/DAILY FORUM
Jefferson sophomore guard Sarah Chor finishes off a fastbreak with a layup in the Lady Eagles’ 55-52 overtime victory over North Andrew Tuesday night. Chor finished with nine points on the night.
