By RAY BENTON
Special to The Leader
The Lady Red Devils had a fairly easy time in their first-round game of the Red Devil Classic Saturday afternoon, at least for the final three quarters.
Jacksonville had a rough start and found itself trailing Pine Bluff Dollarway 11-10 after one quarter, but came back with a vengeance in the second quarter en route to a 48-30 victory over the Lady Cardinals.
Jacksonville followed that up with an even easier semifinal win, beating Robinson 73-44 to move into the championship game against West Memphis. That game was played after Leader deadlines on Tuesday.
The deciding second period on Saturday saw Jacksonville outscore its counterpart 14-2 to take an 11-point advantage into intermission. Senior guard Tyra Terry led the onslaught with junior Crystal Washington and sophomore Ebony Ghoshon getting in on the action as well. Dollarway simply couldn’t handle Jacksonville’s aggressive defense in the second quarter, frequently coughing the ball up, turnovers that the Lady Devil guards turned into points.
Jacksonville backed off the pressure in the third quarter and extended its lead to a modest 35-22, but turned it back on early in the fourth to take control of the game. The lead grew to as much as 22 before settling on the final score.
Terry led all scorers with 15 points while Washington added nine and Ghoshon seven.
Apollonia Sims led Jack-sonville with 22 points against Robinson on Monday. Jessica Lanier added 16 and Chyna Davis 14.
