Jeck’s heroics not enough to lead Southern to title

Nikki Jeck did just about everything possible to lead Madison Southern to another 44th District Tournament championship. The senior guard scored her team’s first 11 points, had 87 percent of the Lady Eagles’ offensive production in the opening half (21 of 24) and ultimately finished with 26 points, but her heroics simply weren’t enough to overcome Madison Central’s depth, talent and balance. The Lady Indians wrapped up their first district since 2006 with a 66-51 win over Southern Friday in the championship game at McBrayer Arena. Jenna Cornelison had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Brislyn Sizemore added 12 points and nine rebounds as nine different Central players scored." They've got a lot people who can play,” Jeck said of Central. “They are athletic and talented. But, I’m proud of how we played.”

Central was up by five at the half (29-24) and after three quarters (44-39), but was never able to put away Southern until the final minutes. A pair of three-point plays early in the fourth gave the Lady Indians some breathing room, allowing them to seal the win at the free throw line." We played so much better in the second half,” Central coach Guy Gandolfo said. “We weren’t patient enough. We weren’t looking inside like we should have been. And give Southern credit. When we did go inside, they doubled down and triple-teamed Brislyn. We adjusted to it. They did a great job. I’m so proud of them.”

Central was just four-of-17 from the field in the first quarter and trailed 12-10 after the opening eight minutes. Jeck scored 11 in period and then hit six-of-eight free throws in the second quarter. The senior finished with four rebounds, four assists, six steals and eight turnovers." The thing about Nikki is that she is a tremendous basketball player,” Gandolfo said. “But, not only is she a tremendous basketball player she is a leader on and off the court. She’s (the kind of player) a coach dreams of.”

Jeck got some much-needed help from Brittany Calhoun in the second half. The forward had 11 of her 17 points in the final two quarters and also finished with 10 rebounds. Still, it wasn’t nearly enough. Southern had only two other players score — Courtney Harold (six points) and Tosha Boggs (two points)." They had some shots fall at the end and we didn’t,” Jeck said. “So we had to start fouling. It was a close game that could have gone either way for a long time.”

Jeck hit the game-winner in the closing seconds last year in a first-round match-up with Central. That loss propelled the Lady Eagles to their first-ever district title and eliminated the Lady Indians from the postseason. And a year later, that memory was still fresh in some minds — at least in the opening minutes." We remembered it,” Central junior guard Lyndsay Jones. “But, once we started playing we had to put it behind us and play this game.”

Jones had six points, seven assists and five steals. Christina Ciolek had five points and seven rebounds and Kayla Sharp added eight points and seven rebounds.
Ciolek, Jeck, Jones, Cornelison and Calhoun were all named to the all-tournament team along with Berea’s Chelsea Atwater and Brittany Harris and Model’s Kristina Ritter and Shelby McNeely.