The Jefferson Blue Jays Girls Varsity Basketball team has been up and down all season, but after a tough loss to Herky last week, their squad went toe to toe with Grandview Monday night. Jefferson hadn’t been able to pull out a win in their previous six meetings with Grandview, and the Eagles tried their hardest to make it seven straight. After fighting off a fourth quarter comeback from Grandview, the Lady Jays held on for the 43-41 win.
“The girls played a great defensive game,” noted Head Coach Zac McVey, adding that it was a “total team effort.”
Jefferson started the first quarter off right, with Peyton Weiler draining their first points from the charity stripe. From that point on, Catryn Cattoor led the way for the Lady Jays, nailing a pair of buckets from the field and another one from the line. She totaled five points in the first with Jefferson leading 11-8.
Going into the second with just a three-point cushion, would have to suffice as Grandview stepped up on both sides of the ball. Jefferson’s offense was quiet as they had their hands full with the Eagles, but still managed to put nine more points on the board. Riley Jackson, Reagan Kennedy, Cattoor and Weiler all contributed to the cause. The Lady Jays held on to their three-point advantage going into halftime ahead 20-17.
Coach McVey must have stressed the need to grow their lead during his halftime speech, because the Lady Jays came out firing, making the third quarter their most dominate of the game. Cattoor put the pressure down low, allowing Laney Smith open looks at the basket. Smith and Cattoor combined for 10 of Jefferson’s 14 points in the quarter, with four and six respectively. Add in another bucket from Kennedy with ole trusty Weiler draining a couple more from the line, and R7 outscored Grandview 14-10 in the third. Their lead had grown to 34-27.
As the fourth got underway, the Eagles took their last stand and gave Jefferson all they had, mounting a comeback that almost gave them their seventh straight “W”. The Eagles shutdown Cattoor in the paint, but a few costly fouls gave her the opportunity to get on the board, going 3-4 from the line.
Without help from Smith, Kennedy and Weiler, the Lady Jays would’ve been in a world of hurt. Kennedy was able to get to the line for one and added another two from the field, giving her three points in the quarter. Smith added another, but wasn’t able to convert from the line when the foul was called. Weiler, who shouldn’t have been the last person the Eagles sent to line (as she was shooting 100%), was able to convert both this time on the one and one.
Jefferson was outscored 14-9 in the fourth, but still came out with the 43-41 win to end Grandview’s streak at six.
Peyton Weiler made big contributions on the night ,coming up big from the line and beating up the boards. “Weiler went 6-7 from the line and rebounded strong for us tonight,” mentioned McVey. She notched three offensive boards and seven defensive boards, giving her ten on the night and added eight points offensively.
Laney Smith and Reagan Kennedy added support on the offensive end for Jefferson, adding eight and seven points, respectively. Coach McVey added “Both Laney and Reagan played great offensively in the second half.”
But it was Catryn Cattoor who really made things happen on Monday night as she led with 16 points, but her biggest contribution was on the defensive side of the ball.
“Cattoor had another outstanding performance while she scored 16 points, she held Wakefield to nine points, making this her third game holding top area posts players to single digits!” exclaimed Coach McVey.
Cattoor couldn’t have been happier with the teams performance, mentioning after the game “It was great to start off our week with a win. We had a lot of energy going into this game. Our aggression on defense kept us in it all four quarters and gave us a lot of great looks going forward.”
Reagan Kennedy agreed with Cattoor’s statement while she tossed some props her teammates way, noting, “Our defense is what kept our energy up and was a huge factor in the game. Pressuring the ball and having Catryn Cattoor on their tall post prevented them from getting good offensive possessions.”
Jefferson moves to 9-10 on the season and will look to keep their defense dominant, hosting a 6-8 Potosi squad on Wednesday night. Tip-off is at 7p.m.
