Published: January 29, 2006 05:59 pm      

Lady Devils on a roll

For the first time all season the Jackson High School Lady Devils basketball team has won consecutive basketball games. The milestone happened over the weekend when the Lady Devils defeated the Pike County Lady Pirates and the Crawford County Lady Eagles at The Garden.

The week wasn’t perfect for the Lady Devils though. Preceding their weekend victories was a disastrous Tuesday night in Macon County. It was the first time that the Lady Devils and the Lady Bulldogs had met since the region championship game at the end of last season where Macon County won, 64-62.

The Lady Devils, who defeated Macon County both times that the two teams met during the regular season last year, lost badly to the two-time defending Region 4AA champions, 60-35. In fact, Jackson’s starting lineup of three freshmen, one sophomore and one junior didn’t lead one time during their rematch game in Montezuma.

The loss to the Lady Bulldogs was Jackson’s worst shooting night of the season. The Lady Devils only shot 25 percent from the floor and it showed. By the end of the first quarter Jackson was already down, 28-17.

At halftime the deficit was 40-26. It was one of those nights where every shot Jackson attempted seemed as if it was going to miss, while the Bulldogs, on the other hand, couldn’t miss. Jackson’s attempt to get back in the game was a blur in the fourth quarter after the Lady Devils threw up four consecutive three-point air balls.

The Lady Bulldogs went on a 12-2 run to close the game handing Jackson its second consecutive loss to the champs. With the loss, Jackson fell to 3-6 in the region.

The Lady Devils returned home Friday to play the 0-16 Pike County Lady Pirates. And it wasn’t even close: Jackson crushed Pike County, 68-29, but the Jackson offense started sluggish, only scoring three points through three-quarters of the way in the first quarter.

The Lady Devils’ offense finally woke up with every player on the team scoring before the night was over. Lady Devils’ leading scorer Lexxus Clayton only had one point in the first half, but rebounded in the second to again lead Jackson with 12 points. Freshman Kanisha Benjamin had nine, senior Keida James had eight, juniors Korunn Goodrum and Tacorria Mann each added eight with sophomore Kornisha Miller putting in eight. Jackson’s victory over the Lady Pirates put the team back at 4-6 in region play.

Saturday’s game with Crawford County was a little more difficult than the previous night’s. Jackson defeated the Lady Eagles on January 13 and was looking to get closer to the .500 mark in region play. Watts’s defense wouldn’t let him down as Jackson only allowed the Lady Eagles to score two points in the opening quarter.

Goodrum had her best offensive and defensive performance of the year and seemed to be in on every play in the first half. That along with the Lady Devils full court press helped Watts’ team lead the Lady Eagles, 28-18, at halftime.

Both teams scored 10 points in the third quarter, but again it was Goodrum’s performance that helped the Lady Devils open its lead to 15 in the fourth quarter. The Lady Eagles cut the Jackson lead to 10, but the margin was too big for Crawford to overcome as Jackson seemed to be having fun on the court with the Lady Eagles.

Indeed Jackson moved one game closer to .500 after the 48-38 victory against the Lady Eagles at 5-6 in Region 4AA. Goodrum led the way with 12 points. Clayton followed with 11 and Miller added eight in the 10-point victory.

What’s scary for other region teams is the fact that Jackson seems to be getting its swagger back. Watts’ team seems to be understanding his defensive scheme better and better each night. At 5-6 in the region, Jackson still has a chance to pull a good seed come region tournament time.

Jackson was in action last night with an improved Rutland Lady Hurricane team who defeated the Lady Devils on January 10 in Macon. Friday, Watts and the Lady Devils will make the short drive on Highway 36 West for a rematch with the Lamar County Lady Trojans. Saturday, it’s a return trip North to Henry County as Jackson looks for revenge with the Lady Warhawks who also defeated the Lady Devils earlier in the season.

Jackson’s last regular season home game couldn’t be any bigger for the team as the Macon County Lady Bulldogs come to The Garden in an effort to sweep the Lady Devils on the season. But expect the Lady Devils to play behind their home crowd and put a better performance than the last time the two teams met last week in South Georgia.