The Jena Lady Giants played a big non-district game this past week taking on the Tioga Lady Indians in Jena and will take on Buckeye this Friday for the district championship.
The ladies were scheduled to play Tioga at home on Tuesday, January 27, but the winter storm would force the teams to reschedule to Thursday night, January 29. This would be a big game in the Cenla area as Tioga is ranked #11 in Division I Select and the Lady Giants are ranked #4 in Division III Non-Select. The two teams played a great game against each other last season at Tioga and both teams return the majority of their team.
Both teams are also very similar in that they like to play full court defense and are quick to score on offense. So, everyone was anticipating this matchup. The Lady Giants would get on the board first as Rylee Masters would knock down a three-point shot to get the scoring started.
The Lady Giants would lead 6-2 after Triniti Williams made a shot from the field and was fouled and subsequently made the free throw. Every time Jena would get a lead Tioga would quickly come back and the end of the quarter would have the two teams tied at 16.
The two teams would exchange the lead back and forth throughout the 2nd quarter. The Lady Giants would have a 25-24 lead in the quarter but Tioga would finish the quarter on a 13-4 run to take a 37-29 lead into halftime.
In the 3rd quarter, the Lady Giants would struggle to score as Tioga would outscore Jena 23-6 in the quarter to take a 60-35 lead into the 4th quarter. The Lady Giants would not give up though as they would start the 4th quarter on a 17-2 run to get within 10 points at 62-52. That would be as close as the Lady Giants would get though as Tioga would go on to win 70-54.
In the game for the Lady Giants, Triniti Williams had 22 points, Halle Phillips had 6 points, Rylee Masters had 6 points, Ziy’Mariya Gardner had 5 points, Jacquelin Brooks had 4 points, Lily Lacroix had 3 points, Sydney Williams had 2 points, Ahja Dorsey had 2 points, Ameera Jones had 2 points, and Heidi Crawford had 2 points.
On Friday, January 30, the Lady Giants would travel to Vidalia to play a big district game. Coming into the game Vidalia was ranked #16 in the Division III Non-Select rankings and having a very good season. The Lady Giants were looking to remain unbeaten in district play but would have to do it without leading scorer Triniti Williams who suffered an injury in the Tioga Game.
The Lady Giants would win the district contest 61-56. Senior Lily Lacroix would step up to lead the team in scoring as she made 5 threepoint shots in the game and finished with 17 points. Halle Phillips would finish with 15 points while Ameera Jones had 10 points in the game.
The Lady Giants are now 18-6 overall and 4-0 in district play. They are currently ranked #4 in the Division III Non-Select power rankings.
This Friday night, February 6, the Lady Giants will play the Buckeye Lady Panthers at home. Both teams are undefeated in district play and the winner will be the District 2-3A champion.
The Jena girls are hoping a large crowd will make plans to come out and cheer them on to victory. Tip off will be at 6:00 p.m.
