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Jayhawk girls roll over Blu-Jays
MOUND CITY, Kan. -- Jayhawk-Linn's girls finished the regular season on a strong note with a 71-43 thrashing of Linn County rival Pleasanton in Three Rivers League play Friday night.
Both teams now go on to their respective Kansas Sub-State tournaments. Jayhawk-Linn, the host of the semifinals and finals of a Class 3A Sub-State next weekend, has to go on the road to face Frontenac Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Jayhawks are the No. 5 seed in that Sub-State. Meanwhile, Pleasanton has a long road trip to third-seeded Onaga Monday for a 7 p.m. first-round game in the St. Marys Class 2A Sub-State.
The Jayhawks (5-3 TRL, 8-12 overall) finished in fourth place in the league behind four double-figure scorers, two of whom, Monica Johnson and Kaylee Brownback, finished with double-doubles.
But the Blu-Jays (1-7, 5-15) played tough early on, even holding the lead late in the first quarter after a 6-0 run put them ahead 13-11 with 1:42 left. Alexis Cannon, Jayhawk-Linn's leading scorer with 16 points, started a 6-0 run to end the period with a layup. Brownback followed with a layup of her own and Johnson capped the period with a score with five seconds left.
Kayla Looney gave Pleasanton the lead again early in the second when her three-point goal capped a 7-2 run to start the period.
But the 'Hawks, sparked by Audrey George's basket off a Hannah Beckman assist, scored the next 14 points without a response on their way to taking a 36-22 advantage into the locker room.
The Jayhawks simply overwhelmed the Blu-Jays with high-paced offense. Although they only made 10 field-goal attempts in the second half, that they shot 46 times and Pleasanton kept turning the ball over as they tried to keep up.
By the end of the third, a period in which they did not turn the ball over once, Jayhawk-Linn led 58-32.
George scored 15 points for the Jayhawks. Johnson finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds while Brownback had 14 points and 11 boards.
Cannon led the 'Hawks with six assists. George and Beckman each had four steals.
Caitlyn Conrad was the only Blu-Jay to reach double figures in scoring with 17 points. Angela Mitchell had nine rebounds for PHS.
For the game, Jayhawk-Linn shot 30 percent from the field on 23 of 77 and also went 23 for 37 at the free-throw line. The 'Hawks turned the ball over just 15 times to Pleasanton's 30 and also outrebounded the Jays, 58-41. J-Linn had 21 boards in the third quarter alone.
The Jays made 35 percent of their shots from the field on 17 of 49 and made eight of 16 free-throw attempts.