First Time in 20 Years
Twenty years ago, the Jena Lady Giants, led by head coach Slick Joiner, hosted Chalmette in a second- round playoff game in the Class 3A state playoffs. Back in 2005, senior Jill Phelps would score 27 points while junior Nora Brooks would finish with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 8 blocked shots to lead the Lady Giants to a 48-41 victory. That would be the last time that the Lady Giants would win a second-round playoff game.
On Monday night, February 24, the Lady Giants would travel to Kinder to take on the Lady Yellowjackets in the second round. This would be a rematch from the previous year as Kinder would defeat Jena 4235 in the first round of the playoffs last season. Kinder would return most of their team from last season as four of the starters would be seniors that started against the Lady Giants a season ago. A large group of Lady Giants fans would make the trip down and would let their voices be heard throughout the game.
Kinder would jump out to an 11-0 lead in the first quarter as the Lady Giants looked nervous to start. The Lady Giants would finally get on the board on a Triniti Williams three-point shot. Kinder would lead 12-7 going into the second quarter. The Lady Giants would finally settle in and play their game and we would have an all-time classic on our hands.
Midway through the second quarter, Sophie Parker would give the Lady Giants their first lead of the game at 17-16 but Kinder would take an 18-17 lead into halftime.
In the second half, the game would stay tight as in the third quarter both teams would exchange the lead back and forth but neither team would have more than a two-point lead.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Giants depth would show up as Kinder would start to run out of gas. The Lady Giants looked like they were just getting started. Jena would outscore Kinder 15-5 in the fourth quarter with Triniti Williams scoring 10 points in the final quarter. The Lady Giants would go on to win 46 38. In the game for the Lady Giants, Triniti Williams had 17 points, Sophie Parker had 9 points, Jacquelin Brooks had 8 points, Hallie Phillips had 4 points, Ahja Dorsey had 4 points, Kaylee Kemp had 2 points and Kaylee Hardie had 2 points.
The Lady Giants would make it to the quarterfinal round for the first time since the 2005 season. In the quarterfinal round the Lady Giants would travel to #2 Oak Grove.
The Lady Giants played Oak Grove back on December 10th with Oak Grove winning 61-22. Oak Grove has a star sophomore in 6’5” Caroline Bradley. The sophomore has college offers from every major D1 school in America.
Once again, the Lady Giants would have a large group of fans make the long trip north to Oak Grove. It would be a packed house for the quarterfinal matchup, but it would be all Oak Grove in this one as they would start the game on a 15-0 run.
The Lady Giants would try to get back in it as they would go on a run to get it to 20-8 but that would be as close as the Lady Giants would get. Oak Grove would go on to win 57-25.
In the game for the Lady Giants, Triniti Williams had 12 points, Hallie Phillips had 4 points, Kaylee Kemp had 4 points, Kaylee Hardie had 3 points and Sydney Williams had 2 points.
The job that head coach Garrett Hoffpauir and staff have done in his first year has been incredible. The Lady Giants finish the season with a 2111 record. This is the first season since the 2017 season that the Lady Giants finished with a winning record. The Lady Giants had their first 20-win season since 2017. They won their first playoff game since 2016. They made it to the quarterfinal round for the first time since 2005.
The Lady Giants will miss the senior leadership of Kaylee Kemp, Noel Kimbrough, and Karli Kimball but they return a core group of players next season that gained a lot of experience this season. Congratulations Lady Giants on an incredible season and all of Jena can’t wait to see what the future holds.
Photos from the game:
