The East Jackson Lady Eagles had hoped to enter the Christmas break on a high note, but it didn’t work out that way as they fell first to Dawson County then to Jackson County over the weekend.
The Eagles will travel to Morgan County for the Sweet South Classic tournament Dec. 28-30. East Jackson will open against Social Circle on Dec. 28 at 5:30 p.m.
The Lady Eagles began their weekend hosting Dawson County Friday night.
In what would prove to be a close game throughout, the Lady Tigers held a slim 9-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. They extended it to a four point advantage, making it 23-19 going into the second half.
The Lady Eagles worked hard to stay within striking distance and trailed by five at the end of the third quarter, 28-23. East Jackson then made a late surge, but came up just short as Dawson County won 39-38.
Caroline Hicks led the Lady Eagles in scoring with 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, her second double double of the season. Callie Moore scored 11 points.
On Saturday the Eagles traveled to Jackson County to face the Lady Panthers for the second time this season.
The Lady Panthers took charge of the game early on and never looked back. Jackson County held a commanding 11-3 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 28-13 advantage at the half.
The Lady Panthers stretched their lead in the third, moving out to a 50-22 lead after three quarters, then coasted in for a 62-42 win over the Eagles.
Moore led in scoring with 10 points. Lashundra Gresham scored eight points and had eight rebounds, Hicks scored seven points and Shelby Johnson had three steals while Keilee Smith had two.
“In our past two region games we have seen that there are many more even region teams than in the past such as Union and Dawson,” said coach Amy Larimer. “We have to be able to pull out some of the close games with teams like these to boost our confidence and compete in region play. We have to continue working and focusing on playing intense defense and scoring consistently throughout the game.”
