The Jena Lady Giants started their playoff run this past week and made history as they recorded their first playoff victory in nearly 10 years.
The Lady Giants finished their regular season with a 19-10 record which was good enough to earn the #10 seed in the Division III Non-Select state playoffs. They would draw #23 Port Allen for their first-round opponent and the game was held Thursday night, February 20.
The Lady Giants have had a great season where they have been undefeated at home. The Lady Giants were also looking to pick up their first playoff win since the 2016 season. In 2016, the #28 Jena Lady Giants went to Lake Charles and pulled off a big upset as they defeated #5 St. Louis. Since the 2016 season, the Lady Giants have gone 0-4 in playoff games. This would be the third straight season that the Lady Giants have made the playoffs.
The Lady Giants would quickly jump out to a 5-0 lead as the Guy Campbell Memorial Gymnasium crowd was very loud. Port Allen would then settle down as they would get to within one at 9-8 midway thru the first quarter. The Lady Giants would end the first quarter with a 12-8 lead and take a 29-18 lead into halftime.
In the second half it would be all Lady Giants as they would outscore the Lady Pelicans 40-12 in the second half to go on to win 69-30.
It would be the same story for the Lady Giants as their depth would be just too much to handle. Port Allen only played six players in the game while the Lady Giants had 14 different players get into the game.
The Lady Giants had nine different players score in the game. In the game for the Lady Giants, Triniti Williams had 16 points, Sophie Parker had 13 points, Noel Kimbrough had 11 points, Kaylee Kemp had 8 points, Ahja Dorsey had 5 points, Hallie Phillips had 4 points, Amerra Jones had 4 points, Lily Lacroix had 4 points and Jacquelyn Brooks had 4 points.
With the win the Lady Giants advanced to the second round where they faced a familiar opponent. Kinder (#7) defeated Winnfield (#26) 57-33 to advance to the second round in the bracket and they hosted the #10 Lady Giants in matchup held Monday night, February 24, after this newspaper’s deadline.
These two teams met last season in the first round of the playoffs. Kinder came to Jena last season and jumped out to a 24-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Giants outscored Kinder 2918 in the final three quarters but would fall 42-35. The core of Kinder’s team last season was juniors so most of their starters from that game return as seniors this season. It should be an excellent game and by the time you read this article you will already know the outcome.
The winner of this game will play the winner of #15 Marksville at #2 Oak Grove in the quarterfinal round. The quarterfinal round game will be played on Thursday, February 27. Hopefully by the time you read this article the Lady Giants will be preparing for a quarterfinal game.
Remember you can hear all the Lady Giants playoff games live 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 game:
