Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

FRANKLIN FURNACE — St. Joseph Lady Flyers’ coach Bart Burcham had his defense focus on the number four.
Not only did they focus on it, they locked down on it.
The Lady Flyers turned their defensive focus to Green Lady Bobcats’ leading scorer Kasey Kimbler who wears jersey No. 4 and St. Joseph held the freshman guard to only seven points.
“We did a good job containing (Kimbler). the Emma (Whaley) and Laiken (Unger) and any of the other girls we put on her did a great job,” said Burcham.
The Lady Flyers had three players in double figures as Faith Mahlmeister scored 14, Emma Whaley 12 and Bella Whaley 11.
St. Joseph (7-7) had 29 rebounds with Bella Whaley grabbing 10, Mahmeister nine and Emilee Blankenship five.
“We worked hard on the boards again. And we played all nine players and they all made a contribution,” said Burcham.
Green was led by Kami Sweeney with 14 points.
St. Joseph (7-7) took a 13-9 first quarter lead as Mahlmeister and Emma Whaley scored four points each and Kaitlyn Sheridan drained a trifecta.
Kimbler scored five of her points in the quarter. She had two foul shots in the third quarter.
Sweeney had four points and Emma Whaley three in the second quarter to account for all the scoring and St. Joseph led 16-13 at the break.
Emma Whaley hit a trey in the third quarter and Mahlmeister had four points as the Lady Flyers went up 29-25.
Chloe Sheridan hit a big 3-pointer in the quarter after Green got within two points.
Sweeney and Kimberly Brown got four points each to keep the Lady Bobcats in striking distance.
The Lady Flyers held Green to just four points in the fourth quarter — all by Sweeney — while Bella Whaley scored eight points including 4-of-4 at the foul line and Mahlmeister had six points.
The Lady Flyers play at Fairview, Ky., on Saturday at noon.
St. Joseph 13 3 13 14 = 43
Green 9 4 12 4 = 29
ST. JOSEPH (7-7): Kaitlyn Sheridan 0 1 0-0 3, Faith Mahlmeister 5 0 4-5 14, Emilee Blankenship 0 0 0-0 0, Bella Whaley 3 0 5-6 11, Emma Whaley 3 1 3-6 12, Laiken Unger 0 0 0-0 0, Chloe Sheridan 0 1 0-0 3, Lydia Sheridan 0 0 0-0 0, Kerri Jenkins 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 3 12-17 43. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.
GREEN (5-7): Ava Jenkins 0 0 0-0 0, Kasey Kimbler 2 0 3-4 7, Megan Johnson 1 0 0-0 2, Kaylee Christian 1 0 0-0 2, Kimberly Brown 1 0 2-3 4, Kami Sweeney 5 0 4-6 14, Charli Blevins 0 0 0-0 0, Logan Jones 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 0 9-14 29. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: Brown.