It was a close, rough and tumble game Friday night, but in the end, the Jefferson Lady Dragons came away with a region victory in overtime over in-county rivals East Jackson for their second region win of the season.
Up next is a rematch with another in-county rival, the Lady Tigers of Commerce. Jefferson is looking to follow up a win over Commerce earlier this month with another victory.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
East Jackson
The Lady Dragons went into Friday night not only looking for their second region win of the season, but also looking for a victory over their in-county rivals, East Jackson.
Both teams were pretty even for the first quarter, as they fought back and forth for control of the game. At the end of the first quarter, it was a tie game, 9-9.
Both groups looked for an advantage in the second quarter in what continued to be a very evenly matched contest. By the half, however, the Lady Dragons were able to pull out to a three-point lead, taking a slim 24-21 edge into halftime.
Jefferson turned in some of their best performances in the third quarter, as they held East Jackson to nine points while scoring 17 to take a commanding 41-30 advantage by the end of the third.
But the Lady Eagles refused to give up. Over the course of the fourth quarter, East Jackson came roaring back, putting 19 points on the board while holding the Lady Dragons to eight points.
With 17 seconds left on the clock, the Lady Eagles scored to take a 51-49 lead. A foul shot moments later gave them a three-point advantage, 52-49.
The Lady Dragons made their way back down the court, however, and a last second three-pointer from Skylar Evanson at the buzzer tied the game, sending the contest into overtime.
“It was one of the great shots in the game of basketball,” said coach Jason Gibson. “I don’t think that I’ll ever forget the shot and the reaction from our players and the crowd. It was definitely an exciting moment to be part of.”
Jefferson took the lead early in overtime, and would move away over the next four minutes of play. East Jackson would close the lead down to three, but could not overcome the deficit as the Lady Dragons took the 64-61 victory.
Erin Knight led Jefferson in scoring with 21 points. Stephanie Fincher had 11 points and eight rebounds. Bethany Whitlock scored 10 and had five steals.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald.
