Upcoming match at Ponce de Leon has Lady Royals Locked in…
The Jay Lady Royals (19-3) defeated Chipley last week 48-29 to advance them to the regional finals. The opponent? Ponce de Leon (23-3). Ponce is no stranger to these types of games as of late. The Lady Pirates are back-to-back reigning state champs. Last year, Ponce defeated Wildwood 39-38 to win the school’s fourth state championship. With all that being said, however, the young Lady Royals aren’t focused on the past; and why would they be? They are focused on present season. The season that they’ve won a district championship in , defeated 6A Pace at Pace, and went 7-1 against their rivals. They’re not listening to the doubters either…A team led by underclassmen shouldn’t be playing at this level…but they are. So why start listening to critics now?
“As Rick Flair says, ‘to be the man, you got to beat the man!'” head coach Jorey Diamond said about making the trip to Ponce de Leon. “They have been the standard a while so we love the opportunity to compete against a quality program.”
The two schools were scheduled to play earlier in the season, but bad weather cancelled the game due to travel concerns. Even though the two did not get to play against each other, they did share three opponents in common; Paxton, Chipley, and Central.
Below are the common opponents on the season for Jay and Ponce.
Ponce vs. Chipley L 31-19, W 40-34, W 39-25 (District Championship)
Ponce vs. Central W 63-43
Ponce vs. Paxton W 40-30
Jay vs. Chipley W 48-29
Jay vs. Paxton W 52-32 (District Championship), L 30-29, W 38-15
Jay vs. Central W 61-30, L 44-36
As far as Tuesday’s matchup is concerned, Diamond knows what the Lady Royals will be walking into. “Ponce likes to spread the floor on offense. They shoot the ball well and will be a challenge on the perimeter.” Defensively, Ponce likes to press and play very aggressive. “They get after you defensively and like to pressure, hoping you’ll make turnovers.”
In reference to what the Lady Royals need on Tuesday? Diamond made it clear; “It will be a hostile environment in their gym…We need a lot of people in blue there tomorrow.”
Hopefully, the Jay faithful will make the short trip to Ponce and make their presence known.
Tuesday, 2/14
At Ponce de Leon
Tipoff-7:00pm
