It was going to take more than the dynamic scoring duo of Yvonne Anderson and Lauren Nolke for the Hickman girls basketball team to get past Jefferson City last night.

Parker Eshelman photo

Hickman’s Lauren Nolke shoots during the first half of a 61-42 victory over Jefferson City last night at Hickman gym. Nolke finished with 14 points.

Hickman Coach Tonya Mirts knew it. Jefferson City Coach Doug Light knew it. And fortunately for the Kewpies, Chasity Prince figured it out at halftime at Hickman gym.

With the second-ranked Kewpies clinging to a four-point lead, the 5-foot-10 sophomore scored 15 of her game-high 17 points in the second half to help Hickman pull away for a 61-42 victory.

"Coach mentioned she was wanting people to step up offensively," Prince said. "I tried to take it upon myself to do that."

Admittedly nervous at the start of the game, Prince showed no fear after halftime. She opened the third-quarter scoring with the first of her three 3-pointers.

"After I hit the first 3 and we got a comfortable lead, I started to feel better," Prince said.

The better Prince felt, the worse things got for Jefferson City (13-8). Prince and Ciara Tatum scored all but two of Hickman’s 16 points in the third quarter as the Kewpies took a 10-point lead into the final quarter.

Prince sandwiched a put-back between two jumpers by Tatum to send Hickman (21-1) to a 40-28 lead. Tatum’s 3-pointer from the top of the key produced the final points of the run that forced Light to call a timeout at the 5:05 mark.

The Jays briefly regrouped to close the score to 40-34, but the Kewpies ended the quarter with a jumper by Nolke off a pass from Tatum and two layups by Prince - the final one off a steal at halfcourt.

Hickman opened the final quarter with a 6-0 run - two baskets by Anderson and an inside bucket from Shana White off another assist from Tatum - and Jefferson City never got closer than 14 points.

"We got exhausted," Light said. "Hickman will wear you out. They’ve got some decent depth and really good kids and they’re really quick, and that will wear down on you. It seems like we got tired and made some mistakes, and they’re going to take advantage of that."

Just in case the Jays were thinking about getting their second wind, Prince promptly knocked the air out of their sails with back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the fourth. The final 3 came after Taylor Ford hustled after a Prince miss and got the ball back to her at the top of the key to make the score 58-40 with 3:51 left.

Prince’s performance wasn’t surprising to Mirts, who has come to expect her soft-spoken sophomore to shine when the Kewpies need an offensive boost.

"We haven’t had to have her do that a lot because most teams can’t stop the one-two punch," Mirts said. "But whenever needed, she knows that’s her job because she’s a great shooter. … She’s a tremendous threat and, obviously, that makes us a much better team."

Anderson finished with 16 points. Nolke added with 14 points, and White grabbed seven rebounds.

Kathryn Ommen scored 11 points and Sydney Crafton 10 for the Jays.

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