It was an up and down week for the Lady Eagles of East Jackson, but in the midst of it the team was able to add two wins to their record, including their first region victory of the season.
Up next for the Lady Eagles is a trip to Oconee County on Saturday where they’ll face the Lady Warriors in non-region action.
Oconee County has been victorious in the last two meetings of the two teams, back in December of 2008 and in December of 2007.
The Lady Warriors entered action on Tuesday with a 9-8 overall record and 3-4 in their region.
Tip-off on Saturday is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Last week got off to great start for the Lady Eagles, as they traveled to Oglethorpe County to face the Lady Patriots.
Oglethorpe County jumped out to an early lead, holding a 16-14 advantage at the end of the first quarter. But the Lady Eagles came on strong in the second quarter, and carried a 32-25 lead into the half.
East Jackson continued to control the game in the third quarter, moving out to a 52-39 lead. They would move away for the win in the fourth quarter, with a 69-53 final score to record their first region win of the season.
Autumn Wilbanks led East Jackson in scoring with 26 points. Callie Moore and Caroline Hicks both scored eight points, while Terin Gillespie and Mikki McGinnis both scored six.
Wilbanks had ten rebounds, while Hicks had five. The team had a total of 18 assists, with Gillespie having eight, while Moore and Shelby Johnson had three each.
The team had a total of 22 steals on the night, with Wilbanks and McGinnis both getting five, and Johnson getting four.
“The game against Oglethorpe was exactly what we needed,” said coach Amy Larimer. “We played well as a team and I saw a lot of aspects we have been focusing on in practice come out in the game.”
Next up was a historic first game between the Lady Eagles and the Lady Dragons of Jefferson at EJCHS last Friday.
The game started out strong for the Lady Eagles, as they took a 9-6 lead in the first quarter. But in the second, Jefferson rallied, and moved into a 20-17 lead going into the half.
Things went badly for the Lady Eagles in the third quarter, as Jefferson held them to only two points, while the Lady Dragons added another 19 to their lead to make it 39-19 at the end of the third.
In the fourth, East Jackson seemed to get their legs back under them, and closed the lead to within ten points late in the game. But Jefferson would hold on to pick up a 52-40 victory.
Wilbanks led in scoring with 18 points, while Gillespie had seven and Johnson scored six. Gillespie had two assists, while Moore, Wilbanks and McGinnis had two steals each.
Hicks had nine rebounds on the game, while McGinnis had seven and Moore had six.
“We really put ourselves in a bad position with our performance in the third quarter,” Larimer said. “We kept fighting and pulled within 10 points during the fourth quarter but it is very difficult to pull yourself out of such a huge hole. We simply have to play a complete game to pull off a big win such as Jefferson.”
The loss left the Lady Eagles at 1-5 in region play.
Up next for East Jackson was a trip to Washington-Wilkes to face a Lady Tigers team that they had beaten back in December.
The hope was to rebound from the previous night’s loss with their second win of the year over the team from Washington.
The Lady Eagles started out strong, leading 10-8 at the end of the first quarter. But Washington-Wilkes began coming on strong, and held a three-point lead, 27-24, at the half.
East Jackson came out in the second half determined to close the gap, and held the Lady Tigers to seven points, as they closed to within one point, 34-33, by the end of the third.
The struggle for the lead continued into the fourth quarter, and as the final buzzer loomed, Washington-Wilkes held a one-point advantage.
That was when Kaitlin Hill hit a basket with an assist from Johnson with 2.4 seconds left on the clock to go up by one. Washington-Wilkes was unable to answer, and East Jackson won 47-46.
For more on this story, see The Commerce News or The Jackson Herald.
