LOVELAND - Grand Junction girls basketball coach Sam Provenza had heard all about the brilliance of Legacy senior guard Melissa Jones, and he was prepared for that.

What came as somewhat of a surprise to Provenza and his Tigers was how good the Lightning is at playing team defense.

Legacy forced Grand Junction into 28 turnovers as the top-seeded Lightning pulled away in the second half to post a 54-39 victory against the Tigers in the third round of the Class 5A state basketball tournament Wednesday afternoon at the Budweiser Events Center.

Legacy (22-3) advanced to the quarterfinals Friday, while fourth-seeded Grand Junction ended its season at 15-7.

"Their defense is good," Provenza said of the Lightning. "They move, they find the passing lanes and they keep their hands real active. That got to us."

The Baylor-bound Jones, who finished with a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds, said Legacy's biggest strength is the way it plays defense.

"That's kind of what we want to do, force a lot of turnovers," said Jones, who had five steals. "We try to score off of our defense."

Although the Tigers committed 20 turnovers in the first half, Provenza actually was pleased with where his team stood at halftime. Legacy shot only 7-for-24 in the first two quarters, and Grand Junction closed the half with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 20-18.

But the Lightning opened the third quarter by getting baskets from Quincey Noonan, and then Jones hit successive three-pointers shortly after to put Legacy in control. The Lightning outscored the Tigers 23-9 in the period.

Added Jones: "We knew we could play a lot better than we did (in the first half). We put that anger and emotion that we had and took it out on them in the second half."

Grand Junction......8	10	9	12	-	39
Legacy......14	6	23	11	-	54

GJ - Jamie Guillen 2 0-0 4, Stephanie Brown 0 0-0 0, Amy Knackendoffel 1 0-0 2, Katie Cupp 2 0-0 4, Brittany Berguin 0 0-0 0, Reanna Trottier 1 0-0 2, Marlena Diaz 2 2-2 6, Kershel Claussen 3 3-5 9, Neelly Schott 0 2-2 2, Emily Stark 3 1-2 7, Whitney Akrum 1 0-0 3. Totals 15 8-11 39.

L - Breana Mathews 2 0-0 4, Mara Cosgrove 1 0-0 2, Cassie Long 0 0-0 0, Melissa Jones 8 5-6 23, Shelby Babcock 0 3-4 3, Kara Morton 0 2-4 2, Quincey Noonan 8 2-4 18, Kellen Wittkop 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 12-18 54.

Three-point goals - GJ, Ankrum; L, Jones 2.

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