The North Pike Lady Jaguars overcame a sluggish start and used their full-court press to hassle the Brookhaven Lady Panthers en route to a 62-44 win, their second straight, on Friday night.
Both teams started off sluggish and tied the game at 4 midway through the first quarter.
The Lady Jaguars started the game in a familiar full-court press, hoping to cause problems for Brookhaven.
The Lady Jaguars took advantage of multiple Brookhaven turnovers, and North Pike guard Rickera Martin scored 8 unanswered points for a 14-4 lead at the end of the first.
The Lady Panthers’ offense never seemed to be able to make progress as the Lady Jaguars’ press proved to work.
The Lady Jaguars led 25-9 with about 3 minutes left in the first half but allowed the Lady Panthers to go on a 6-0 run to end the half and come within 10, with the score at 25-15.
“I think our lead helped us good. I subbed with 3 minutes left in the first half when we were up, and they cut it down to 10 at halftime,” North Pike head coach Lance Golmon said. “We can’t have that. When I sub in we have to play. If I put them in they’ve got to perform.”
The Lady Jaguars kept their foot on the gas in the second half as well, remaining in a full-court press for a 51-26 lead into the final quarter.
They remained in control from there.
“I think our press helped us out really well. We’ve got to do a better job on the backside of it,” Golmon said. “We just put it in a few days ago, so they’re still learning. I like the top of it, the top of it looks good.”
Martin finished with 25 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals and 1 block for the Lady Jaguars. Latorya Humphries finished with 20 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals.
“I thought Humphries did a good job tonight coming in off the bench. She’s coming off the bench right now and getting us some good stops. She’s playing well,” Golmon said. “We’re getting better. There’s a long way that we have to go but at the same time I like the progress we’re making.”
The Lady Jaguars travel to Hazlehurst to play on Tuesday night. They beat Hazlehurst 75-42 last Tuesday.
Brookhaven routs
North Pike boys
Playing from behind the whole game, the North Pike boys basketball team fell to the Brookhaven Panthers 77-40 on Friday night.
Ladarius Dunn scored the opening basket for the Jaguars with 6:47 in the first, but the Panthers’ constant defensive pressure quickly took the Jaguars out of the game.
Following Dunn’s basket, Brookhaven went on a 19-0 run to go up 19-2 before Jaguar guard Matthew Owen made a layup with 1:14 left to play in the first. At the end of the first quarter the Panthers led 20-9.
The Jaguars allowed another run to start off the second quarter as the Panthers jumped out ahead 30-11 and took a 38-18 lead into halftime.
“We’ve still got a lot of growing up to do. We didn’t handle it well,” North Pike head coach Keith Russ said. “We’re not being fundamentally sound with the basketball. We’re being rushed when we shouldn’t be rushed, so we’ve got to make some improvements on handling the defensive pressure.”
Playing it close in the third quarter, the Jaguars came within 16 points of the Panthers, 44-28, after back-to-back layups from Dunn and Javian Jackson.
However, North Pike wasn’t able to make the stops it needed on defense, and the Panthers took a 56-35 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Brookhaven wasted no time in the fourth quarter and quickly put the game away. The Panthers allowed just 5 points in the final quarter and kept piling it on offensively.
Jackson finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 steals, and 3 blocks for the Jaguars; Dunn finished with 8 points, 2 rebounds and 1 block; Juwan Adams finished with 7 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block.
“We’re not playing up to our capability right now,” Russ said. “We’ve got to get some other guys to step up. We’re not playing as a team. All five are not working together as one. We’ve got one or two guys playing hard at one time and then the other ones are not following those two.”
The Jaguars travel to Hazlehurst to play on Tuesday night. They beat Hazlehurst 69-48 last Tuesday.
