The Jefferson City Lady Jays are one win away from their second Final Four appearance in the past five years, but standing in their way is the defending Class 5 champion West Plains Lady Zizzers.
The No. 2 seed Jefferson City Lady Jays and top-seeded Helias Lady Crusaders knew they would be in for a battle in the Class 5 District 5 Tournament title game at Washington High School. And that is exactly how it played out, as the Lady Jays took an early lead and held on for dear life late for a wire-to-wire 43-41 victory for their fifth district championship in the past seven seasons.
Their first meeting went a long way in deciding the Central Missouri Activities Conference title. Their second meeting will decide who advances to the state tournament as the top-seeded Helias Lady Crusaders and second-seeded Jefferson City Lady Jays meet tonight for the Class 5 District 5 Tournament championship. Game time is 6 p.m. at Washington High School.
It was won on the defensive end. “My kids have defensively been playing like this all year long,” Jefferson City Lady Jays coach Kay Foster said after Monday night’s 53-31 victory against the Helias Lady Crusaders at Fleming Fieldhouse.
With the start of the postseason just around the corner, the Jefferson City Lady Jays played perhaps their best game of the season. Jefferson City jumped out to an early double-digit lead, fought off a Fatima rally, then kicked it back into gear Thursday night as the Lady Jays defeated the Lady Comets 61-31 in a state-ranked clash.