Lady Royals to play in State Championship!

University of North Florida-The Jay Lady Royals (25-4) will be playing the Williston Red Devils on Friday for the Rural State Championship after defeating Hilliard (24-6), 53-39. Since losing to LEAD Academy on January 2nd, Jay has reeled off 17 wins in a row. The win over Hilliard puts Jay in the State Championship for the first time in nearly three decades.

Junior Hattie Locklin led all scores with 16, while fellow juniors Aubreigh Nelson added 12 and Presley Hawthorne had 15. The points for the Lady Royals came mostly from inside the arc, as Jay only connected on one three pointer for the night. Tough post play with gritty rebounding and second chance points proved to be the deciding factor that Hilliard could not overcome. 43 rebounds to 21 proved to be a big factor in the win.

“So proud of my girls and how they competed the whole game,” head coach Jorey Diamond stated after the game. “I didn’t want the moment to be too big for them and it wasn’t.”

Defensively, Jay forced 21 turnovers and held their opponents to 27% shooting from the floor.

Next up for Jay is the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME on Friday in Jacksonville at 5pm c.s.t.

Williston (21-2) defeated Blountstown 43-41 in the semi-finals to advance to the Championship.

HHS 9 9 7 14-39

JHS 14 16 12 11-53

(H Locklin 16, L Locklin 8, A Nelson 12, P Hawthorne 15, G Lewis 2)