The Jena Lady Giants are going to do something that they haven’t done in 27 years this Friday night: They are going to be playing for a district championship.
The last time the Lady Giants played for a district championship was in 1998 when they defeated Winnfield in a tiebreaker game for the district championship. But first let’s get to how the Lady Giants got to this point.
On Tuesday, January 28, the Lady Giants traveled to Tioga for a non-district matchup. This would be a great tune up game to prepare the Lady Giants for the playoffs. Tioga had defeated Jena earlier in the season in a tournament and both teams came into this game playing very well.
Tioga would lead for most of the game as the Lady Giants had some players that were a little under the weather. Jena would make a late push in the fourth quarter as they would get within 5 points, at 49-44, after a Jacquelyn Brooks made shot. But that would be as close as the Lady Giants would get as Tioga would go on to win 57-48.
In the game for the Lady Giants, Rylee Masters had 13 points to lead the Lady Giants. Jacquelyn Brooks had 9 points, Noel Kimbrough had 8 points, Sophie Parker had 6 points, Triniti Williams had 6 points, Sydney Williams had 4 points and Ahja Dorsey had 2 points.
On Friday night, January 31, the Lady Giants welcomed the Vidalia Vikings to town in another District 2-3A matchup. The Lady Giants would come into the game with a 3-0 district record and were looking to keep pace with Buckeye atop the district standings. Jena would lead the entire game as they would jump out to a 21-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. The starters would only play the first half as Jena would go on to win 62-20.
The Lady Giants would have 12 different players score in the game. Triniti Williams and Jacquelyn Brooks would lead the Lady Giants with 11 points each. Kaylee Kemp had 9 points, Kaylee Hardie had 9 points, Braylie Poole had 5 points, Noel Kimbrough had 4 points, Sydney Williams had 3 points, Hallie Phillips had 2 points, Amerra Jones had 2 points, Rylee Masters had 2 points, Karlie Kimball had 2 points and Heidi Crawford had 2 points.
With the win the Lady Giants are now 16-9 overall and 4-0 in district play. This Friday night, February 7, they will travel to Buckeye to take on the Lady Panthers. Buckeye is 4-0 in district as well. The winner of this game will be the district champion.
Everyone make plans to be at Buckeye High School this Friday night. It is not a far drive and the Lady Giants need all of their fans to make the trip to show their support. Game time is at 6:00 p.m. but I would get there early to make sure I get a seat.
If you can’t make it to the game then you can hear all the live action on 102.7 KJNAFM. If you are not in the listening area then you can download the MIXLR app and search for KJNAFM or go online at www.kjnafmjena. mixlr.com.
Photos from the Tioga game:
