Local Sports
Maidens show improvement in win over Lufkin Hudson
By Jay Neal
sports@jacksonvilleprogress.com
Sophomore-post Amber Hawkins scored a season-high 29 points to spur Jacksonville to a 53-42 victory over a pesky bunch of Lufkin Hudson Lady Hornets Friday night at the JHS Gymnasium.
The Maidens even their slate at 2-2 with the win while Lufkin Hudson falls to 2-2 following the defeat.
The Jacksonville girls are back in action Monday (junior varsity and varsity only) as Woden is slated to invade the JHS Gymnasium for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff in the Maidens’ final test prior to Thanksgiving.
Jacksonville hopped on the Lady Hornets early as the Maidens took a 15-5 lead with two minutes to play in the opening stanza before a late Lufkin Hudson push trimmed the score to 17-10 after one.
Likewise in the second quarter as the Maidens built a 10-point advantage only to have a determined Lady Hornet team trim the margin to 31-26 at the halfway point.
The final two frames were a defensive struggle with Lufkin Hudson outscoring Jacksonville 7-6 in the third quarter.
A Lady Hornet field goal with 6:24 to play in the game — the first points scored in the final frame — cut the Maiden advantage to 37-35, forcing Jacksonville head coach Jason Crow to quickly signal for a timeout.
Crow emphasized to his team that they “were trying to give the game away” and challenged them to play Maiden basketball the rest of the way.
The Maidens listened to Crow’s words as Jacksonville came out of the break and posted a 7-0 run, extending their margin to 44-35 with 3:04 showing on the clock.
All seven points of the spurt were scored by Hawkins (three field goals from the low paint and a free throw).
The Maidens led by as many as 13 points, 51-38, at the 1:16 interval.
Tanika Lucas-Clay tossed in eight points, including a pair from long range, while Lydia Boyd netted six points for the Maidens.
Lufkin Hudson was led offensively by Brittany Livingston with 14 points.
Crow was happy to get the win and stated that although the team still has areas needing polish, there were bright spots in Friday’s win.
“We still have to get better, in some ways this was an ugly win,” Crow said. “But in addition to winning the game I was really happy with our decision making on the court tonight,” Crow said.
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