Jackson Indians dominate Dexter Bearcats with relentless defense and fast breaks

The Jackson Indians girls basketball team defeated the Dexter Bearcats 63-24 on Monday at the Jackson High School Event Center.

Freshman Lauren Dorey led the Indians with 10 points while sophomore Mauriona Menley led the Bearcats with 8.

The first quarter set the tone for the remainder of the game as Jackson led 21-4. The Indians forced eight turnovers and scored easy transition buckets off those turnovers.

The second quarter went the same way. The Indians' defense swarming the Bearcats and scoring bucket after bucket on fast breaks gave Jackson a 42-10 halftime lead.

Indians head coach Angela Fulton was happy with the energy her team displayed after their double-overtime victory against Cor Jesu on Saturday.

“I'm really proud of them. After battling like they did on Saturday we came back in yesterday and got loose,” Fulton said. “We did a lot of stretching and foam rolling. It's a recovery day, so we will have fresh legs today. We got lots of rotation in today, which I think helps too.”

There was a lot of rotation, indeed. Eleven of the 12 players who entered the game for Jackson scored. Quarter three kept up the turnovers and easy points from the Indians' bench players, as Jackson led 55-19.

The fourth flew by with the running clock as the Indians cruised through for their fourth conference win. Fulton said the defense was huge tonight and will continue to be huge down the stretch into the postseason.

“It’s going to be big. That is what's going to separate us, and that's what we told them in the locker room at half. We had to focus on defense and rebounding and learning how to win,” Fulton said. “That’s going to be our philosophy here and out. You can’t control if your shots go in but you can control defense so that's our goal.”

Jackson has three more games including two more conference games in Notre Dame and Sikeston before the Class 6 District 1 tournament begins.

Jackson hosts Sikeston on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. while Dexter hosts Fredericktown on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.