JACKSON ENDS YEAR ON A WINNING NOTE

Jackson's Lady Indians might not have won a state championship over the weekend, but they are one of a select group of teams that got to end their season with a victory.

The Lady Indians bounced back from Friday's tough semifinal loss against Parkway West to beat Lee's Summit North 58-55 in overtime late Saturday night and capture third place in the Missouri Class 4A girls basketball tournament.

Jackson finishes the year with a 22-7 record along with fond memories of the program's sixth trip to the state's final four.

"I'm really proud of this team," said Jackson coach Ron Cook following the third-place game at the University of Missouri's Hearnes Center that did not end until just a few minutes before midnight. "With a little luck, we could have been playing for the (state) championship.

"But third place in the state is a great accomplishment. A lot of teams would like to finish like that."

Jackson came on late

When the season began, Jackson -- with only one senior in the starting lineup -- was not looked at by most observers as a state title contender.

But the Lady Indians steadily improved as the campaign went along and saved their best basketball for when it counted the most -- in the district tournament and beyond.

"We grew and matured as the season went on," Cook said. "We played a heck of a game (against favored Poplar Bluff) to get out of districts and we played some good games after that."

One of those good games was against heavily favored Parkway West in Friday's semifinals. The Lady Indians took the Longhorns to the wire before dropping a 44-40 decision.

Cook believes it is to the Lady Indians' credit that they were able to bounce back from that tough defeat with such a strong effort in Saturday's consolation game that did not start until about 10:15 p.m.

"What's great is how hard both teams played for third place," he said.

Said standout forward Andrea Koeper, Jackson's lone senior starter, "After last (Friday) night, we all said we were going to leave it all on the court (Saturday) because it's the last game of the season. Everybody did an excellent job. It's a win and we all deserved it."

Koeper, Leet sparkle

Koeper and rising star guard Andrea Koeper, who likely ranks as one of the state's better sophomores, once again were Jackson's leaders Saturday.

Koeper hit five of eight shots from the field and scored 13 points while also grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out four assists. In the two final four games, Koeper totaled 29 points and 16 rebounds.

Leet hit four of six 3-point attempts on her way to 16 points, giving her 35 points for the weekend. She connected on eight of 15 3-pointers in the two games.

Jackson also received solid contributions from several other players during the consolation contest, including senior reserve Ronna Cook, who is the coach's daughter.

Cook scored all eight of her points in the fourth quarter and overtime period. She hit four of five free throws, all of them in crucial situations.

Freshman guard Katie Loos, who had not seen much varsity action previously, was pressed into duty late in the game and she hit a big 3-pointer during the fourth quarter.

Another freshman, starting guard Ashley Bartels, made two free throws with seven seconds left in overtime to close out the game's scoring.

"Our two freshmen played well," said Cook. "They all played well."

Close all the way

In a game that was extremely tight all the way -- neither team led by more than five points after halftime, which ended in a 22-22 tie -- Jackson appeared headed for a regulation victory.

But Lee's Summit North's Claire Coggins was fouled on a 3-point attempt with seven seconds left and she calmly made all three free throws to tie the contest at 49-49 and force overtime.

Jackson took the lead for good in the four-minute extra session on two Koeper free throws with 36 seconds left, making it 56-55. The Broncos' Christie Brown missed two foul shots with nine seconds remaining and then Bartels made her two free throws with seven seconds left for the game's final points.

Looking ahead to next season, even though the Lady Indians lose leading scorer Koeper and valuable reserve Cook, they return all of their other key players, led by Leet. So the future appears to be bright.

"We've got a lot of good players coming back," said Ron Cook. "It depends on how they work in the offseason, but we should have another good team."