FRESHLY PRESSED

SOUTH CENTRE TWP. — Losing isn't an option for Central Columbia this time of year. Then again, losing hasn't been a possibility for the undefeated Blue Jays this season.

Having last lost a district playoff game 2,551 days (6 years, 11 months, 25 days) ago in February 2019, the six-time defending district champions proved they were up to defending — literally — the crown once again.

The Blue Jays used a full-court press to make life miserable for Athens in a District 4 Class 4A quarterfinal Thursday. The defensive scheme took away several transitions for the Wildcats and in return, opened up the court for the Blue Jays to start the game with 23 unanswered points in a 64-20 thumping of Athens.

With the win, the top-seeded Blue Jays (25-0) square off against Lewisburg (12-11), a 35-17 winner over Milton, in the quarterfinals. The game's date, time and location are to be determined. The Blue Jays toppled the Green Dragons in both regular season meetings, 53-31 and 64-34.

Points weren't available for either team in the first two minutes. The Blue Jays had the opportunities, but couldn't get the shots to fall. Still, coach Ryan Novak didn't fret and call a timeout. He let the game develop.

Good thing, too, because all it took was one basket to be made for the game to turn sideways. Jude Flick delivered the relief, sinking her shot from the field while getting fouled, where she drained the And-1.

The Blue Jays never looked back.

"We've been shooting the ball extremely well in practice the last few weeks and put a lot of time into that knowing that a deep playoff run usually consists of good shooting," Novak said. "You get open shots, you've got to convert. In the first minute or two, they all looked good. I knew it would happen eventually and we were able to go on a run."

It's often said a team's best offense is a well-executed defense. Central was a prime example of such. During their 23-point stretch, the Blue Jays had nine steals, with Quinlan Blake, Jada Tucker and Kayla Poust coming away with multiple. They each also took one for a layup.

"The press gets us going. So even when you're not shooting well, the press allows you to give all-out effort and energy going 94 feet," Novak said. "That provides a little bit of extra juice, especially when there are some nerves and there's a big crowd. It helps ease that where you can just go play defense."

The defense had the Wildcats so disoriented, Welkom was found alone atop the arch for a wide-open 3. She finished with three for the game.

"We've all played together for a long time so we know where everybody else is going to be," Welkom said. "We just have a feel for each other."

The Wildcats ended the Jays' scoring spree on Allison Kemp's layup in the final minute of the opening frame.

It did little to slow down the Jays, especially Blake. The sophomore matched the Wildcats' production by being the only player to score in all four quarters. She went 8-for-9 at the charity stripe and drained a pair from beyond the arc.

She was also far from the only Jay doing damage. Eight different players drained at least one field goal, which only brings the team closer.

"I love when we can all get into it," Welkom said. "We all start celebrating on the court on the court and that's really what makes it fun — when we're all celebrating with each other."

Novak, too, is impressed with eight different girls scoring and being able to play 10 different athletes any time. Still, he wants the team's focus to be on improving defense.

"We didn't think our half-court defense was really good. We had way too many middle drives down the middle of the lane, especially in the second half," Novak said. "We want to keep teams off the foul line The game slows down for us when people are shooting free throws. ... We're going to work on closing those gaps up."

If there is still a lot of room for improvement there by the Blue Jays, other teams may not have room to move the ball in future rounds.

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