JACKSONVILLE — Progress staff reports
HENDERSON — Jacksonville head coach Jason Crow, not at all pleased with a meager four-point halftime lead, called his team out during the break Friday, demanding the Maidens get their act together on defense.
The team listened as Jacksonville outscored Henderson 11-5 in the pivotal third quarter before winning the final regular season game, 49-37, at Lion Gymnasium.
“Henderson gave us a good fight,” Crow said. “They shot the ball well from the outside and we just didn’t play the type of defense that we are capable of in the first half.
“I challenged our girls at halftime to come out defensively in the second half and play like we are capable of and they went out and held Henderson to five points in the third quarter. That was the key to the game right there.”
The Fightin’ Maidens (17-15, 8-1) lead 34-24 after three periods of play and went on to lead by as many as 18 points in the fourth segment before the Lady Lions (8-22, 2-8) connected on a couple of shots from long distance down the stretch to make the final margin of victory 12 points.
The win gives the Jacksonville girls their second-consecutive district championship under Crow’s direction. The Maidens will open the state Class 4-A playoffs on Feb. 16 against either Mount Pleasant or Marshall, who both have one district game remaining to be played on Tuesday, at a neutral location to be announced.
Crow said he likes where his team stands now, heading into the playoffs and the squad will work on fine tuning some things this week in preparation for their bi-district playoff contest.
“There was a point in the season that I was not pleased with our intensity or our effort, but since the (holiday) tournament we have started to play harder and to be more focused out on the court and have started to get after it,” he said. “We will spend this week on cleaning a few things up in practice and resting up a little bit to be ready for the playoffs next week.”
Freshman Chancii Scott guided the Maidens on offense by knocking in 22 points while Amber Hawkins finished with 12.
Henderson was led in scoring by Shanice White with 17.
Jacksonville 49 Henderson 37 (girls)
1 2 3 4 -Tot.
JHS 13 10 11 15 -49
HHS 10 9 5 13 -37
JHS — Chancii Scott, 22; Amber Hawkins, 12; Sametria Baker, 2; Lydia Boyd, 4; Jessica Hunter, 2; Brittany King, 7.
HHS — Tae Walters, 2; Natasha Neal, 3; Shanice White, 17; Tiarra Davis, 9; Kaitlin Sabella, 2; Kelsey Jones, 4.
Three point goals — JHS: King; HHS: White (4), Davis.
Records — Jacksonville (17-15, 8-1); Henderson (8-22, 2-8).
Next game — Jacksonville vs Mount Pleasant or Marshall, bi-district playoffs, Feb. 16, TBA; Henderson’s season is complete.
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