Either Jacksonville or Watson Chapel was going to lose a winning streak Friday.
The Lady Titans (18-6, 12-0 5A-Central) used their quickness to take a 47-36 victory over the Lady Wildcats (15-10, 10-2) to clinch the conference championship and extend their winning streak to 12. Watson Chapel's winning streak ends at six.
The Lady Titans have only two seniors on the roster, but neither had a great deal of playing time Friday.
"We have a good eighth-grade bunch coming up," Jacksonville Coach Marian Kursh said. "But these girls have done really good things, pushing through and handling success despite being young. They just have a hunger in them."
Shy Christopher, Jacksonville's only junior, led the Lady Titans with 22 points while hitting all seven of her free-throw attempts.
Christopher was a bright spot from the line, but the Lady Titans made only 14 of 30 free-throw attempts. Watson Chapel hit 11 of 22 attempts.
Jacksonville held a 12-8 lead after the first quarter by scoring the last five points. They doubled up Watson Chapel in the second quarter, outscoring them 14-7 to hold a 26-15 lead at the half.
Jacksonville kept the pressure on in the third quarter, holding a 10-6 edge in scoring to increase its lead to 36-21 heading into the final quarter.
Watson Chapel Coach Leslie Henderson pointed to Jacksonville's quickness as a key to the victory.
"They are extremely athletic," she said. "They tip our passes and get a lot of steals. And we rush things. They just disrupt everything we do."
Jacksonville, which usually applies pressure with a press, didn't utilize the strategy much Friday night.
"That's usually our game, but we wanted to take a different approach tonight," Kursh said.
Although the Lady Titans put the only conference losses on Watson Chapel, Kursh said they weren't the only tough team in the 5A-Central.
"Sylvan Hills is a big rival, and Hall is usually pretty competitive. It's not just Watson [Chapel], other teams play us tough, too. That's what I tell the girls, everyone wants to beat you."
Jacksonville's Ariel Morant and Da'kariya Jackson had 9 and 8 points, respectively.
DeKeira Kentle led the Lady Wildcats with 11 points.
Sports on 02/16/2019