Jackson girls have imperfections but stand perfect 5-0

~ The Indians defeated visiting Perryville 50-38 on Monday.

Jackson's girls basketball team has yet to play up to its capabilities, but thanks to a 50-38 victory at home on Monday against Perryville, the Indians will enter the Saint Francis Medical Center Holiday Classic with a 5-0 record.

"Perryville's a good team, and Berkley's as athletic a team as we've ever played," Jackson coach Sam Sides said. "We've had three or four hotly contested games and came out on top. There's no way I can say we're playing good basketball yet."

Making their home debut, the Indians struggled to make a shot in the opening half. Jackson relied on 5-foot-10 junior Amanda Peiffer down low to provide the bulk of the offense. Peiffer finished with 10 points in the opening half, as Jackson led 18-11 at the break.

"That's where we had an advantage," Sides said of the post. "I thought we got it in there, but we couldn't finish. That's what we tried to do early."

Jackson's inability to make shots was more than equaled by Perryville's poor first-half shooting. The Pirates did not get their first field goal of the half until the 5:27 mark of the second quarter. All three field goals for Perryville in the first half came from post player Bethany Steffens.

"If they'd have been hot the first half, we'd have dug ourselves a big hole," Sides said.

Play began to pick up in the second half, as both teams traded baskets early in the third quarter. Perryville had as many field goals in the first three minutes as they did in the whole first half.

Perryville stayed within seven points in the early going, but could not keep up with the Indians. For the Pirates, the game was their first since opening the season on Nov. 28.

"It's kind of a shock to play Jackson this early in the season and not have more experience under our belts," Perryville coach Vicki Lohmann said.

Jackson was able to put the game out of reach with an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter, going ahead 46-30. The Indians held Perryville without a basket for nearly five minutes until Becky Bachmann scored with 1:22 left.

Perryville made an 8-0 run of its own with Jackson's reserves on the court in the final minute.

"I know we have the talent; we just couldn't get it put together on the floor," Lohmann said.

Steffens led Perryville with 14 points, and Amber Hacker added 10.

Peiffer and Bobbie Jones led the Indians with 18 points apiece. Jones scored 15 points in the second half.

"She can do that. She can go off," Sides said of Jones. "She can get a little out of control, but most of the time she's going to make something happen -- good or bad. She can make plays because she's so aggressive."