It was a good week for the East Jackson Lady Eagles as they went 2-1 with wins over Oglethorpe County and Athens Christian with a loss to Elbert County. That improved their record to 3-5 in the region and 7-14 overall.
The Lady Eagles will travel to JCCHS to face the Lady Panthers on Friday.
The Lady Panthers are coming off a 76-17 win over Oglethorpe County. On Jan. 22, the Lady Eagles beat Oglethorpe 46-41. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.
Then on Saturday, East Jackson plays the first of two back-to-back games against Jefferson.
Jefferson comes into the week off of a 38-32 loss to Elbert County. Saturday’s game at East Jackson is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The two teams will meet again on Tuesday at Jefferson in a game rescheduled from Jan. 14 due to snow. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m.
Coach Katie David said they are expecting tough, down-to-the-wire games against Jackson County and Jefferson.
“I know they are local rivals and that always gets the crowd excited, but I try to tell the girls to treat it like any other game,” she said. “Emotion is the enemy. We are going to continue our motto of playing one play at a time. We have been focusing on winning plays. If we win more plays in the game, then we’ll win, but we simply have to fight hard every single play.
“Whether we are behind or ahead, the focus is one play at a time.”
Oglethorpe County
The Lady Eagles started their week with a trip to Oglethorpe County on Jan. 25.
East Jackson took control early, outscoring the Lady Patriots 12-4 in the opening eight minutes. They continued to control the court, extending their lead to 32-9 at the half and 46-14 after three periods as they waltzed to a 55-16 win.
Mackenzie Palette led in scoring with 11 points, followed by Caroline Hicks with eight.
“Against Oglethorpe, many of our inexperienced players got strong minutes and we came away with a win,” David said.
Elbert County
The Lady Eagles next played host to Elbert County on Friday night.
The Lady Blue Devils took the early advantage, putting up 14 points in the first quarter to East Jackson’s 10. But the Lady Eagles came back in the second quarter, outscoring Elbert 16-7 and taking a 26-21 lead into the half. A 20-10 Blue Devil run in the third quarter gave Elbert a 41-36 lead en route to a 56-47 win.
Hicks and Kelsey Palette led in scoring with 14 points each. Lashundra Gresham scored nine and Mackenzie Palette eight.
“Elbert’s defensive pressure down the stretch was a catalyst for their offense, but overall our defense was really strong and a vast improvement from a month ago when we played them,” David said.
Athens Christian
Saturday’s game at Athens Christian did not start out well for the Lady Eagles, as they quickly found themselves trailing 12-0, but they were able to score six points before the end of the first quarter to make it a 14-6 game. East Jackson carried that momentum into the second quarter, outscoring Athens Christian 12-4 to tie the game 18-18 at the half.
The Lady Eagles continued to control the game in the third quarter to make it a 33-25 game by the end of the third. East Jackson had pulled out to a 10-point advantage by the closing minutes of the game, but back-to-back three pointers pulled the game to within four as the clock ran down. But East Jackson was able to hold on down the stretch, recording the 46-42 victory.
For more on this story, see this week's edition of The Jackson Herald or The Commerce News.
