Jackson County’s girls’ team has won five-straight games, leads the subregion at 2-0 and is off to a 7-3 start.
But don’t expect Lady Panther coach John Hawley and his team to get too concerned with anything other than preparation following this early success.
Well, Jackson County (7-3, 2-0) continues to improve in the wins department.
The Panthers downed Hart County 49-46 in a key subregion road game Tuesday night.
Savannah Roncadori nailed a 12-foot jumper late to put Jackson County up 47-46 and Bre Drew hit two free throws with 18 seconds remaining to help seal the win.
Ashley Skelton led Jackson County with 21 points, while Drew added seven and Emily Elrod and Danni Cunningham each scored six.
Hawley noted that Savannah Roncadori and Sierra Roncadori played key roles off the bench. In addition to Savannah Roncadori’s go-ahead jumper, she also picked up a big steal with eight seconds remaining.
“The girls never quit and finished the game strong,” Hawley said.
Prior to the dramatics against Hart County, the Lady Panthers were coming off a non-region home victory over Banks County Saturday.
Drew had her most productive night of the year, scoring 17 of her 21 points in the final two quarters to lead Jackson County (6-3, 1-0) over Banks County Saturday, 55-40. Drew hit four three-pointers in the Lady Panthers’ fourth-straight victory.
“Her offensive game is starting to pick up,” Hawley said. “The good thing is that it was in the flow of what we were trying to accomplish … We need good consistency out of a lot of people not just one or two people scoring.”
Ashley Skelton sparked Jackson County early, scoring nine points in the first quarter as the Panthers ran out to a 17-7 lead. Skelton finished with 12 points.
But Banks County pulled within a bucket at halftime, 22-20, and eventually tied the ball game at 31 in the fourth quarter with a little runner off the glass from Deasha Beasley with 7:19 left in the contest.
“We started out really good,” Hawley said. “But the thing that we’ve got to do is stay focused. Sometimes we kind of get on these islands.”
But Drew answered, drilling back-to-back three pointers to put Jackson County ahead 37-31.
Drew then hit 5-of-6 free throws in the final five minutes as Jackson County extended its lead. Jackson County scored 25 points in the fourth quarter.
“We had a solid finish,” Hawley said. “The kids did a great job down the stretch there.”
The Lady Panthers picked up a big subregion victory a night earlier, beating North Oconee 37-34 in a nip-and-tuck ball game.
Jackson County, which trailed 26-25 at the end of three quarters, outscored the Lady Titans 12-8 in the final period to move to 1-0 in 8-AA South play.
“That was a big win for us because that was another one that we didn’t play exceptionally well for four quarters,” Hawley said. “We started out really flat, but the kids stayed focused and they did a really good job defensively for most of the night, and they put themselves in a position and they finished really well and they executed exceptionally well.”
Skelton scored 15 points to lead Jackson County on a milestone evening for her personally. Skelton notched her 1,000th career point with a three-pointer early in the first quarter. Drew added 11 in the Lady Panthers’ first home game after seven road games to start the season.
“It was really weird coming in here and playing,” Hawley joked.
Hawley noted two big baskets by Macey Latty in securing the victory.
“And that’s the thing we’re talking about, getting other people to step up and distribute and have confidence in each other and their teammates,” Hawley said.
The coach added that the team got “another solid performance” from Elrod and “great minutes” from Katie Phillips and Savannah Roncadori.
