Facing a team it had already beaten twice this month, Hickman girls basketball Coach Tonya Mirts had some simple instructions for her state-ranked squad entering last night’s Class 5 District 10 semifinal against Jefferson City.

Nick King photo

Hickman’s Chasity Prince looks for room against Jefferson City’s Sydney Crafton during the Kewpies’ 58-36 victory last night at Hickman gym.

"The message was: Don’t mess around," she said. "Don’t let them hang around."

Done and done.

The top-seeded and seventh-ranked Kewpies scored the game’s first 10 points and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the final three quarters of a 58-36 victory at Hickman gym.

The 22-point margin was larger than the previous two meetings combined when Hickman (20-6) defeated the Jays (15-12) by eight and 11 points, respectively.

"We just tried to do the things we’d been doing better, and we didn’t," Jefferson City Coach Doug Light said.

The Jays committed turnovers on their first six possessions, allowing the Kewpies to bolt to their big lead. Chasity Prince came out firing for Hickman, making 3-pointers from the left baseline and left wing for the game’s first six points.

Nick King photo

Hickman’s Yvonne Anderson steals the ball from Jefferson City’s Kelsey Mueller. Anderson scored 25 points, and Prince added 13.

A turnaround jumper by Yvonne Anderson made the score 8-0 before Jefferson City finally got off its first shot - a spinning attempt by Sydney Crafton at the 4:10 mark that missed.

"We start out the game with six straight turnovers, and that’s the one thing we couldn’t afford to do," Light said. "They thrive on that. They just took advantage of it and got that lead. From then on, it was an uphill battle."

A three-point play by Serena Jenkins finally got the Jays on the scoreboard with 3:58 left in the first quarter, but a short jumper by Anderson and a 3-pointer by Nicole Schulz pushed the margin back to double-digits for good.

The sizzling offensive start also knocked the Jays out of the zone defense they opened the game in.

"Chasity hit those 3s right away, and Nicole ... got out there and hit her first three," Mirts said. "I think that was enough for him to say, ‘Uh-uh, we’re going to go to man.’ "

For good measure, Prince knocked down a 25-foot jumper right before the first-quarter buzzer when a designed play broke down. That gave the Kewpies a 20-4 lead. Prince just shrugged her shoulders and held up her hands - a la Michael Jordan - as she walked back to the bench.

Prince didn’t make another 3-pointer, but Anderson picked up the offensive production with an outstanding all-around performance. The 5-foot-7 Texas recruit had a hand in all of Hickman’s 11 second-quarter points, scoring seven and assisting on baskets by fellow senior Alexa Fox to extend the advantage to 31-15.

"She does so many of the little things," Mirts said Anderson. "People look at the scoreboard and think she’s not producing if she doesn’t have 35 points or whatever. She does so many other things. … But when we really needed a score, boy, bam, bam, there she was. She knew what she needed to do."

Anderson finished with 25 points, including a 9-for-9 performance from the foul line. The Kewpies combined to make all 12 of their free throws.

Prince added 13 points, and Indya Shepherd scored seven points in the fourth quarter to finish with nine.

"They showed tonight that they’re going to do the things they do and control things," Light said. "I think they rose to the occasion."

Jayme Chapman led Jefferson City with 13 points, and Crafton finished with 10.

The victory not only advanced the Kewpies into a 7:30 p.m. championship final tomorrow against Rock Bridge, it was also the 300th win of Mirts’ coaching career.

In 13 years at Hickman, Mirts has compiled a 300-68 record.

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