With the end of the regular season in sight, the Lady Panthers are looking for a strong finish to give them a good transition into the post-season.
Last week, Jackson County split games between Mountain View and Hart County, leaving them 4-4 in the region and 12-7 overall entering play this week.
The Lady Panthers will play host to Stephens County on Friday. The Lady Indians handed Jackson County their first region loss of the season back in December.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Mountain View
The Lady Panthers were looking to rebound after a tough loss the week before to Oconee County. Their next chance for victory came on the road, as they traveled to Lawrenceville to face the Lady Bears of Mountain View.
After carrying a 41-36 advantage into the third, Jackson County worked the ball inside down the stretch to come away with a 52-44 victory, their fourth region win of the season.
Three Lady Panthers were in double figures. Ashley Skelton led in scoring with 19 points. Freshman Victoria Fontana scored 14. Bree Drew scored 12.
“I was real pleased in how we handled the ball,” said coach Chad Pittman. “We didn’t turn the ball over, we played really fundamentally sound and I felt good about that. We caused them to turn the ball over several times, which gave us an advantage, especially early on to get out to an early lead.”
“When you have balanced scoring, three people in double figures, that’s really big,” Pittman added. “It’s hard for people to decide what they have to cover when you can score from the outside and the inside. I was really pleased with the effort.”
Hart County
Up next for the Lady Panthers was a trip to Hart County to race the Lady Bulldogs.
Jackson County had a strong first half and dealt well with Hart County’s pressure. By the end of the second quarter, the Lady Panthers had a 24-21 lead.
But things did not go as well for Jackson County in the second half. The Lady Panthers were held to six points in the third quarter while the Lady Bulldogs put 13 points on the board to take a 34-30 lead by the end of the quarter.
Jackson County fought back and with just over a minute to go, had cut the lead down to four points, 48-44. But successful foul shots and a surge down the final stretch gave Hart County the 57-47 victory.
Ashley Skelton led in scoring with 17 points. Bree Drew scored 11. Victoria Fontana scored eight.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald or The Braselton News.
