Lafayette Girls' Basketball: Preview of Dynamic Duo

girls' basketball coach Jennifer Porter calls her backcourt of Jordynn Martin and Kayla Hall the dynamic duo.

St. Joseph's Academy coach Julie Matheny said the pair are the best she has seen this season.

Martin and Hall will need to be at the top of their game as the Lancers take on the Angels in the Class 5 Sectional Tournament Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

"Those two have been playing together since middle school, if not before," said Porter of Martin, the two guard, and Hall, the point guard.  "Both of them can shoot it, both of them can handle it, and they know each other so well."

Matheny has seen Martin and Hall several times and is very impressed.

"They are excellent," Matheny said. "Kayla is the real deal and Jordynn can really shoot it. But their strength is their pressing and trapping defense. Their defense is their offense. It seems like 90 percent of their scoring comes in transition."

And the Lancers, who do not have a senior on the roster, have been scoring in bunches lately. They had 82 points against Lindbergh, 76 against Parkway South and 67 against Marquette. Lafayette has scored 70 or more points three other times in their recent stretch where they have won 12 of their last 14 games.

Martin has done a lot of the damage as she is averaging 21 points a game. She is shooting 49.4 percent from the field, 82.2 percent from the line and has made 46 3-pointers. Hall is averaging 11 points a game.

"The last four games in particular have been outstanding," Porter said. "You always want to be playing your best in February and hopefully March and we are doing that."

Lafayette, which was the second seed in the Class 5 District 4 Tournament, defeated top-seeded 51-36 in the championship game. Those two teams shared the Suburban West Conference title.

Porter, who is the daughter of long-time Lafayette boys coach Dave Porter, realizes that they need to play their best game to upset St. Joe's.

"I have seen them a few times and they are a fantastic team," Porter said of the Angels.  "They will certainly out-size us but we have to tay true to who we are. The kids are confident that they can give them some good competition."

The Lancers will certainly be undersized as their only six-foot player, freshman McKenley Meadows, is out for the season with a back injury.

St. Joe's, which features 6-foot-3 Sydney Stipanovich, along with Maddie Stock and Morgan Stock, who are both 6-foot-1, is coming off a convincing title in the Class 5 District 4 Tournament. They knocked off Nerinx Hall in the championship game. 56-37.

"We tend to bring out the best in Nerinx when we play them," Matheny said. "We are not even halfway done from where we want to be and we will do everything possible to make it happen."

The Angels, who won the MWAA White Division title this year, will bring a 25-3 record to Wednesday's game. Lafayette is 17-8.

The girls game will follow the boys contest between Chaminade, and its superstar Bradley Beal, and Marquette. That game will be played at 6 p.m.