Lady Royals Top Bobcats; Advance to Regional Championship
Thursday-Jay (20-3) hosted Paxton (20-5) in the regional semi finals and got a 59-45 point win. The win over the Bobcats was the fourth victory for Jay over their district foes on the season. Less than a week ago, Jay defeated Paxton 61-46 to win the district championship.
The Lady Royals took an early lead and never looked back as they controlled the game most of the night. Minus one starter, the Lady Royals seemed to not miss a beat, especially Presley Hawthorne, who exploded with 22 points on the night. Hawthorne dropped four 3’s on the night as she lead all scorers. 12 of Hawthorne’s 22 came in the third quarter as the Lady Royals came roaring out of the locker room after halftime and dropped 23 on Paxton. Aubreigh Nelson added 12 on the night, including going 6/8 from the free throw line.
Defensively, Jay was successful bouncing back and forth between full court press and half court man pressure. Paxton’s offense was forced to settle for contested shots most of the night.
Up next for Jay is Holmes County in the regional championship on Tuesday. The game will be played at Holmes County.
JHS 14 14 23 8-59
PHS 5 15 10 15-45
(C Baker 7, A Nelson 12, P Hawthorne 22, K Gilbreath 8, A Adams 5, E Vaughn 3)
