An uninspired showing marked Blue Springs South’s opener in the American Family Insurance Holiday Basketball Classic on Wednesday.

Two days later, the Jaguars took no time in sending a clear message: There would be no repeat performance.

The unbeaten Jaguars opened Friday’s semifinal on a 21-2 run and went on to rout Pleasant Hill 79-39. Blue Springs South, the top seed in the Nelson Division, will face second-seeded Lee’s Summit West in the Nelson Division championship on Saturday night.

“Our kids are really good at understanding what they have to do to get better,” Jaguars coach Jimmy Cain said. “They did a good job of preparing … and getting ready to play with a lot of energy early in the game.”

Blue Springs South, 9-0, created 19 turnovers, turning them into fastbreak baskets. Justin Pitts scored 19 points, and Andrew Wright had 14, including eight during the game-opening run.

“Defensively, we got off to a great start and were able to go out in transition to get some points,” Wright said. “We came out and tried to get our energy going. It worked.”

Matt Townsend scored 12 in the loss for the Roosters.

Lee’s Summit West 70, Fort Osage 62

A day after professing defensive intensity would be the key to his team’s success, Lee’s Summit West coach Michael Schieber doesn’t need to rely on coach’s speak anymore.

He can just point to game evidence.

The Titans held Fort Osage to four points in the second quarter, and they survived a late comeback attempt to hold on for the eight-point win. The Indians, who fell to 6-3, turned the ball over 12 times — six of those came in the second quarter, in which LS West outscored them 18-4.

“I don’t even want to talk about that second quarter,” Fort Osage coach Josh Wilson said. “It’s been our thing all year — we played great in the first, third and the fourth, but you have to play four quarters. That’s a very, very athletic team, and they made us make some mistakes in the second quarter.”

Trevor Gregory led the Titans, 7-1, with 17 points.

Skylar Thompson came off the Fort Osage bench and scored 17.