Jefferson buries Longhorns from deep
DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
Jefferson junior center Jessie Henry, left, and South Nodaway senior forward Allison Hilsabeck battle for a loose ball during the Eagles’ 55-44 victory over the Longhorns Friday night.
The player with the most three-pointers in a girls’ basketball game doesn’t get to take home an award or a trophy. Don’t tell that to Brooklyn Stoll or Mallory McConkey.
Stoll, Jefferson’s senior guard, buried three vital triples Friday night, helping the Eagles to a 55-44 win over South Nodaway, which was led by sophomore guard McConkey’s quartet of three-pointers in a matchup between a pair of the top teams in the Platte Valley Conference.
“She’s spent a lot of time working on her shot and she’s gaining confidence,” Jefferson head coach Tyler Pedersen said of Stoll. “That’s just good to see. We talk about those girls and they’ve been working hard in practice. They’re gaining confidence as the season goes and I think you’ll see more of that.”
With South Nodaway starting slow offensively, Jefferson took the first advantage at 7-2 on a left wing three-pointer from Stoll with less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Stoll followed it up with another deep ball with 40 seconds left for a personal 6-0 run to push the lead to 10-2.
“That really had us up in arms at halftime — it felt like our offense was stale,” head coach Aaron Murphy said. “It felt like we were just passing the ball around and not being aggressive, that’s what it felt like. What it was, looking back at it now, they did a good job of walling off the lane. That 2-3 zone, I told the girls in the locker room, is probably one of the better ones we’re going to see.”
The Longhorns salvaged the opening period with a last-second layup before the buzzer sounded from Mallory McConkey.
With less than six minutes left in the second quarter, South Nodaway sophomore guard Meaghan McConkey hit a short jump shot after a pass from Mallory McConkey to give their team its first lead at 13-12.
The three-point barrage continued from the Eagles, as sophomore guard Sarah Chor nailed a shot from above the top of the key to put Jefferson back on top at 15-13.
In the final minutes of the first half, Jefferson conducted a 12-0 run to close out the second quarter, including a triple from sophomore guard Kelsi McQuinn at the buzzer, giving the Eagles a 29-16 advantage at the break.
“It was huge the way the game turned out,” Pedersen said, “because South Nodaway made a really nice run on us. Give them a lot of credit because they play really hard and it gave us that little cushion, I guess, and some confidence going into the locker room.”
Early in the second half, the Longhorns showed signs of life with a speedy 4-0 run on a layup from junior forward Erin Salsbury, followed by a steal from senior guard Kristen Neilson and another layup from Meaghan McConkey.
Immediately following the series, which narrowed the Jefferson lead to 38-23, Pedersen burned a timeout with 3:01 left in the third. A little more than a minute later, Stoll hit her final three-pointer, this one from the left wing to end the short South Nodaway burst.
“As aggressive as (the McConkey sisters) are offensively, they can get a bunch really quick,” Pedersen said. “With their style, setting up that press, a basket leads to an opportunity for them to press and it can lead to another turnover and another basket.”
In the final seconds of the third period, Mallory McConkey found space in the left corner and nailed a triple, shrinking the Jefferson advantage to 43-26.
After methodically battling back in the fourth quarter, South Nodaway finally brought the game to within single digits at 51-42 at the 1:34 mark of the final period on a layup from senior forward Allison Hilsabeck.
However, Jefferson closed things out to push its record to 15-1 as it prepares to tipoff at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday against West Platte in the first round of the North Platte Invitational.
Mallory McConkey and Jefferson junior center Jessie Henry each finished with 18 points to lead all scorers, while Stoll piled on another 16 for the Eagles.
South Nodaway falls to 13-3 and will tipoff at 6 p.m. Tuesday against Nodaway-Holt (9-7) at home.
DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
Sophomore guard Meaghan McConkey tallies two points with a layup during South Nodaway’s 55-44 loss at the hands of Jefferson Friday night.
