With a large number of new players in different roles, the St. James Lady Tigers know this season will bring some growing pains.

And they began immediately.

St. James gave itself plenty of opportunities in the paint and with open perimeter shots during the season-opener against the Capital City Cavaliers. However, the Lady Tigers didn’t finish near enough of them and the result was a 43-35 setback in the Rolla Blue Fish Shootout Friday, Nov. 21 at the RHS Field House.

St. James held a slim edge much of the way. However, Capital City took the lead for good with 2:12 left in the third quarter, as STJ struggled to produce points.

The Lady Tigers were not helped when they lost senior forward Sophie Deluca in the first half with a leg injury. She did not return, leaving St. James even more out-manned inside size-wise.

“Losing Sophie early was a big problem for us,” said St. James head coach Terry Wells. “We sure are hoping it is nothing serious. We need her. I thought my kids played hard, which I am proud of them for. However, we lost the turnover, free throw and most importantly the rebounding battle. You simply won’t win games like that.

“I thought at times we showed frustration, and our body language was poor. Those are things we can control and need to get better at. These kids are very coachable and if they continue to give great effort we will show great improvement.”

The lead changed hands five times over the first quarter. 

Senior forward Emily Thames, who was a force inside throughout, scored the final two baskets in the first period, giving the Cavs a 11-10 edge entering the second period. And a steal by freshman Reese Ndessokia led to a Thames’ layup to open the second quarter and give Capital City a three-point advantage.

However, that would be the Jefferson City team’s largest lead of the half, as the Lady Tigers would reel off 10 unanswered points over a four-minute span. A three-pointer from the left corner by junior guard Payge Kemnitzer with 3:24 left in the second period capped that run and gave St. James its largest lead of the game, 20-13.

A trey by junior Zhoe Smith at the 2:07 mark of the period snapped the Cav drought. The two teams would swap points the final 1:23 and the Lady Tigers took a 22-18 advantage into the second half.

However, offense would be a big problem the rest of the way for St. James. The Lady Tigers produced just one made field goal over the third quarter, allowing Capital City to grab the lead for keeps. The Cavs outscored STJ 6-0 over the final 2:12 of the third period, as a three-pointer by sophomore Arianna Currithers with 1:36 left gave the Cavs a 32-27 lead. St. James would miss four straight free throws to close out the period and had the five-point deficit entering the fourth quarter.

The offensive woes continued for STJ the rest of the way, with just two field goals in the fourth quarter - and none in the final five minutes of play. That would allow the Cavs to build a double-figure advantage when Ndessokia converted a layup with 1:30 remaining to make it 43-32. St. James would score just one point the rest of the way.

Kemnitzer led St. James with 13 points while junior guard Adalee Richardson added 11.

Thames scored a game-high 21 points for the Cavs.

Capital City also won the junior varsity game 42-33. Sophomore Milli Hartley paced the St. James JV squad with 14 points.

St. James is scheduled to compete again in the Marquette Tournament, which is slated for Dec. 1-6.

Nov. 21 at Rolla

Varsity

Capital City 43, STJ 35

Individual Scoring

St. James (0-1): Kemnitzer 4-3-13, Richardson 4-2-11, Campbell 2-4-9, Costoplos 0-1-1, Deluca 0-1-1, Totals 10-11-35.

Capital City (1-0): Ndessokia 1-0-2, Thames 8-5-21, Currithers 1-5-8, Steinmetz 1-0-2, Smith 1-0-3, Coates 3-0-7, Totals 15-10-43.

The score by periods:

Capital City  11    7  14  11-43

St. James      10  12    5    8-35

Junior Varsity

Capital City 42, STJ 33

St. James (0-1): Swopes 1-1-4, Apollo 1-0-2, Alexander 1-0-2, Stubblefield 1-0-2, Hartley 5-2-14, Drennan 0-2-2, Marcee 0-1-1, McWhorter 0-1-1, Stack 1-3-5, Totals 10-10-33.

Capital City (1-0): Terry 1-0-2, Ndessokia 2-0-5, Russell 1-1-3, Saylor Bond 1-0-3, Ruth 4-0-10, Scout Bond 3-2-8, Coates 2-1-6, Sharp 0-3-3, Cofer 0-2-2, Totals 14-9-42.