North Pike went up against Hattiesburg in two heart-pounding matches Friday night but came up short after showing a lot of effort on the court.
The girls fell 42-35, bringing their district record to 2-2.
The Lady Jaguars got off to a great start in the first quarter, which revealed the start of a close game ahead. The Lady Tigers scored in the last five seconds and North Pike ended the frame trailing 14-13.
Both teams played aggressively in the second quarter, with Hattiesburg defending the goal and making good steals, but the game remained neck-and-neck. With 2:16 left before the half, the Lady Jags led 20-17. As the quarter drew to an end, Hattiesburg got a rebound from a missed North Pike shot and made a 3-point buzzer-beater to tie it at 20-20.
Returning from halftime, both teams executed good defense and neither scored until midway through the third quarter, when the Lady Tigers got a bucket. North Pike responded with a 3-pointer from Jessica Patterson that put the Lady Jaguars back into a 1-point lead.
Hattiesburg then caught up and surpassed North Pike with two scores for a 26-23 advantage before Janiesha McCray and KaDasia Wansley helped put North Pike back in the lead at 28-26.
Hattiesburg scored free throws to tie early in the final quarter, and the two teams continued to go back and forth, meeting in another tie at 31-31 with less than five minutes remaining. Hattiesburg scored again and eventually led 39-32.
As the clock wound down, North Pike struggled to get ahead. Amari Davis had a layup and free throw to get to 35.
However, the Lady Tigers had more opportunities at the charity stripe, giving them the final score of 42-35 and ending the game to the disappointment of Jaguar fans.
“We won the first quarter, tied the second, came out and won the third quarter, and in the fourth quarter, the execution broke down,” assistant coach Brooke Eckles said. “We made some bad shots, the press kind of got us, we kind of went away from what the game plan was in the press there.”
Hattiesburg 51, North Pike 46
North Pike played an exciting game that went into overtime and left the crowd on edge, but fell short in a 51-46 loss, falling to 0-4 in 5A play.
“We’re learning a new type of offense. This is our first full game to really play it,” said Jaguars head coach Chase Abdul-Hadi. “It took the guys a few minutes to execute and get in the flow of it. Once they got in the flow of it, though, it worked pretty well,”
Hattiesburg kept a strong lead throughout most of the quarter, and ended with North Pike trailing 16-6.
Early in the second quarter, Hattiesburg’s strong defense gave the Tigers an advantage over North Pike, which fell behind 19-8.
But the Jaguars started and moved to within four points behind the Tigers midway through the quarter. North Pike soon stepped up and K.L. Nobles and Alijah Martin helped to close the gap and tie the game, 22-22.
The third quarter started with the Tigers continuing to add heavy defensive pressure. The teams tied again at 24-24. In the midst of aggressive offense and rebounds, things got heated and a combination jump-ball and foul resulted in some tense moments between the teams. The free throw gave Hattiesburg 28 points, and Martin scored two free throws, putting North Pike two points behind with 1:45 left.
The Tigers continued pushing ahead with good offense and finished the quarter ahead of North Pike with 36-33.
The fourth quarter started with Hattiesburg holding and passing the ball between primarily two players for an unusually long time before they finally drove to the goal and scored. North Pike scored right behind them
North Pike was down 45-42 and Mertenzon Leonard shot a 3-point buzzer-beater, tying the game and sending it into overtime, where the teams displayed the most intense play of the night.
North Pike allowed Hattiesburg to capitalize on turnovers by making long, risky passes that fell into the wrong hands.
“We didn’t execute on offense we made a couple of questionable passes,” Abdul-Hadi said. “Hattiesburg is a great team. They played four team players, they’re big, they’re fast, they’re athletic. You’ve got to give our guys credit. We fought, and that’s all we could ask for.”
