With just four games left in the season, and three of those being subregion pairings, the Lady Eagles of East Jackson had hoped to be on firmer ground.
But so far, they’ve recorded just one region win, placing them fourth in the subregion with only Oglethorpe County trailing them.
Their hopes to add more checks in the win column fell flat last week with losses to Banks County and Oconee County.
Up next is a home stand against Rabun County, a team that comes to town 18-2 overall, and undefeated in the region.
Tip-off Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Banks County
When the Lady Eagles hit the court last Tuesday, they looked like a team ready to make some things happen.
In the first quarter, East Jackson went to work on the then 9-11 Lady Leopards, moving out to a 10-4 lead by the end of the first quarter. But a stout Banks County team came roaring back in the second quarter, putting 12 points on the board while the Lady Eagles could only answer with six, tying the score 16-16 at the half.
Both teams seemed evenly matched as they fought through the third quarter, with Banks County taking a five-point lead, 30-25, by the end of the quarter. The Lady Eagles fought to stay within shouting distance of the
Lady Leopards, but Banks County was able to stretch the lead to six points, and came away with a 40-34 win.
Autumn Wilbanks led in scoring against Banks County with 13 points, while Shelby Johnson scored eight and Callie Moore scored five. Mikki McGinnis and Kaitlin Hill had seven rebounds each, while Moore and Caroline Hicks had six each. Terin Gillespie had three assists and six steals. Wilbanks and Johnson had three steals each.
“We started out the game playing very intense defense and made some things happen,” said coach Amy Larimer. “We let off in the second quarter and never reached that same level of intensity. We have to maintain that level throughout the entire game.”
The loss left East Jackson 6-13 overall and 1-6 in the region.
Oconee County
Next up was a trip to Oconee County to face the Lady Warriors, a team that the Lady Eagles were hoping they could avenge themselves with.
Oconee County had defeated East Jackson in a close six point game back in December, and the Lady Eagles were hoping a good showing would get things turned around.
But from the outset, the Lady Warriors took control, including a 10-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. They continued to dominate in the second quarter, adding 19 points to their score while holding East Jackson to only two, leading 29-10 at the half.
The situation got worse for the Lady Eagles in the third quarter. Oconee County took control again, holding East Jackson to only three points while they added an additional 12 to their tally to make it 41-13 at the end of the third.
The Lady Eagles began to make a charge in the fourth quarter, picking up 11 points. Oconee County added another 13 points to their score to come away with the 54-24 victory.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Commerce News or The Jackson Herald.
