The Lady Jays gained a victory early in the week against Perry at home, and they had a road contest at Holton on Friday, Feb. 17, in hopes of avenging an earlier loss to the Wildcats from the first week of the 2023 portion of the hardwood season. A defensive battle ensued and scoring was limited, but the Jays held the Wildcats to just 2 points in the second period and held on for the win by a score of 31-21.

“We got off to a slow start with some of our defensive responsibilities and taking care of the ball on offense and found ourselves down 9-2 pretty early in the first quarter,” said Head Coach Nate Bauman. “After a timeout, we were able to regroup and go on a 20-2 run to finish the half and give ourselves a comfortable lead.”

Senior Jessica Gruber took charge early in the contest and tallied 6 points on three buckets in the first quarter. Fellow senior Mary Lukert accounted for 4 points in the frame, and the Lady Jays ramped up their defensive pressure to go on a significant run. Sabetha led 10-9 at the end of the first.

“We were able to do a much better job of finding their shooters and taking what they gave us on offense to go on that run. Jessica [Gruber] and Mary [Lukert] were able to exploit their man-to-man defense in the first half and we created some turnovers in our half court defense,” Coach Bauman said.

Holton was held to just 2 points in the second quarter, which allowed Sabetha to build a double-digit lead at the break. Lukert poured in 10 points in the second quarter, Gruber added a bucket and the Lady Jays led 22-11 at halftime.

“In the second half, Holton switched to a zone, which can make it much more difficult to score, especially if you are not shooting great from the outside. I thought we took some quick shots without working the ball side to side and inside out to break the defense down, so that is something we will continue to work on,” Coach Bauman said.

Both teams struggled against each other’s defensive pressure to start the second half and scoring was held to single digits for both teams. Senior Trinity Detweiler dropped a triple over the Wildcat zone defense in the third quarter, and senior Halle Scoby made a score to help the Jays outscore their guests, 5-4. Sabetha led 27-15 with one period to play.

Holton edged out the Bluejays in the final period but only by 2 points, 6-4, by managing three buckets and holding their guests to score only from the free throw line. Senior Mikenna Haverkamp was perfect on two attempts from the stripe and Lukert went two of three from the line in the fourth quarter. The damage done in the second quarter was a decisive factor and the Lady Jays went forward with the victory over the Wildcats, 31-21.

Lukert led the team in scoring with 16 points and tallied eight steals, Gruber had 8 points, and Scoby led her team in rebounds with six. With the win, the Jays improved to 9-4 in the Big Seven and 12-7 overall.

“Once again, every win in the Big Seven is a good win, so we will definitely take it and get back to our main goal of improving everyday,” Coach Bauman said.

Sabetha’s last regular season game was against the 6-7 Hiawatha Lady Red Hawks on Tuesday, Feb. 21, before they turn their focus to the sub-state tournament. These results were not available at The Herald’s press time.