Haertling sparks Jackson girls basketball team to semifinal win in Holiday Classic

Dru Haertling spread the praise to everyone else for her performance Wednesday in the Kelso Supply Holiday Classic semifinals.

The Jackson senior was reluctant to take credit for herself, but she deserved plenty of it in the Indians' 48-26 rout of Farmington.

"I think my teammates just passed me the ball in really good position," Haertling said. "They really were the ones who made the shot open for me."

Haertling did capitalize on a few nice passes, but she also created her own shots by sidestepping defenders or pulling up for jumpers. She also benefited from a couple open layups off her own steals.

"There in the first half, I didn't feel like she took a lot of bad shots," Jackson coach Tyler Abernathy said. "She came off and she was open. And if she's open, she's going to knock them down."

Jackson's Dru Haertling scores on a fast break against Farmington during the first quarter of their Kelso Supply Holiday Classic semfinal game.

Haertling went 8 of 17 from the field, including 3 of 7 on 3-pointers, in the first half. She finished with 23 points in the game.

"She's a pretty good player," Abernathy said. "She works extremely hard on her game. She comes in and shoots every day."

Haertling already signed to play at Southeast Missouri State next year. She's been a scoring force this season by averaging 18.5 points per game after putting in 9.8 points per contest last season. She refused to take credit for the improvement.

"To be honest, I think it's just a real blessing from the Lord," Haertling said. "I'm just praying and he's just taking care of me."

Jackson struggled to get out of the gate, making 3 of 13 shots from the field (23 percent) in the first quarter. But the Knights connected on just 1 of 8 shots (13 percent).

The Indians (7-1) took control in the second quarter by hitting 50 percent of their shots (8 of 16). They also were helped by their pressure defense, which forced the Knights to commit 12 turnovers before halftime.

"I thought we did a good job of getting in good position," Abernathy said. "We did a good job getting between ball and offensive player and making them do something to get open. Then we got good ball pressure. When you do those two things -- you have good ball pressure and you get in a good position -- you have a tendency to get a few steals."

The Indians held the Knights to eight points or fewer in every quarter, and Farmington shot 21 percent (9 of 42) from the field in the contest.

"Our girls played great defense," Haertling said. "I'm really, really proud of the way that they played. They just get out and get after it. We've been working on communication in practice a lot. We've been talking a lot more, and that's starting to show."

Jackson's offensive strategy switched some in the second half. Senior Connor King, Jackson's other player headed to Southeast next season, scored half of her 16 points in the second half. She credited Haertling's hot shooting in the first half for opening the inside.

"It opens things up like crazy because when she's hitting it from 3 feet beyond the arc, you've got to get out there and I have single coverage," King said. "It just makes it a lot easier for both of us."

The Indians advanced to face Notre Dame in tonight's title game. The Bulldogs defeated Meadow Heights 64-59 in the other semifinal. Jackson and Notre Dame met a week ago. The Indians defeated the Bulldogs 43-33 at Jackson.

Farmington 4 7 8 7 -- 26

Jackson 9 20 11 8 -- 48

FARMINGTON (26) -- Caitlyn Friend 1, Jessica Hicks 3, Kaitlyn Gilliam 4, Jordan Martin 6, Rachel Williams 10, Loralee Bader 2. (3-pointers: Martin 1. Fouled out: none)

JACKSON (48) -- Dru Haertling 23, Rachel Hondo 2, Emily Davidson 1, Connor King 16, Danielle Daume 6. FG 19, FT 7-8, F 18. (3-pointers: Haertling 3. Fouled out: none)