Jazmine Jones ignites in overtime as Jackson girls beat Orange Beach

 

 

By JIMMY WIGFIELD

MONTGOMERY — Jazmine Jones made sure there would be a tomorrow for herself and her Jackson teammates, scoring the first six points of overtime to lead the No. 4-ranked Aggies past Orange Beach 54-48 Monday in the Class 4A girls South Regional semifinals.

Jackson (29-4) plays T.R. Miller (22-4) for the fourth time this season in Wednesday’s 4 p.m. regional final at Garrett Coliseum, with the winner going to the state tournament in Birmingham.

The Tigers have beaten the Aggies two out of three games this season, including the area championship game.

“We’ll be ready to go,” Jackson coach Trinnia McKenzie-Smith said.

Jones, who finished with 11 points, was ready to go in overtime. She made a jumper in the lane to break a 46-46 tie, followed with a steal and a baseline jumper, then made two free throws to give the Aggies an insurmountable 52-48 lead with 42 seconds left.

Smith said Jones and fellow senior starter Tyra Caves, who scored 21 points in the victory, are the heartbeat of the team.

“They’re our senior leaders,” Smith said. “They’ve been here every year for five years. They know it’s the last go ’round and they’ve got to go for it. This is their last chance to get it done.”

Jackson had a chance to get it done in regulation but Angel Powell missed two free throws with a second to go to send the game into overtime.

Jones said the team shrugged off the missed opportunity.

“I knew something had to be done,” she said. “We had to attack and basket. We train for this. We have each other.”

The Makos (18-16) led 42-39 with 3:20 remaining but the Aggies’ Jalayzia Hunt made a 3-pointer from the corner to tie it.

Orange Beach led 15-7 after one period but Jackson went on a 16-7 run in the second period to lead 23-22 at halftime and led 35-31 after three periods.

Smith said the Aggies corrected some early problems with their interior defense and held the Makos to just four field goals in the second and third periods. They also outscored Orange Beach 24-17 on points off turnovers.

“We turned up the defensive intensity,” Smith said. “We had to work on our rotation. They were running our big defender away and attacking.”

Meanwhile, Jackson shot 55% in the final three periods and Erica Walton hauled in 10 rebounds to help the Aggies fight the Makos to a draw on the boards in the second half after getting outrebounded 14-7 in the first half.

And now Jackson needs a draw with T.R. Miller this season to make the trip to the state’s final four.

“We’re ready for them,” Jones said. “They’ve got two good shooters but we’ve got good shooters too. We’re locked in.”