By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
For close to two nail-biting minutes, Jacksonville looked in danger of giving the lead to North Pulaski on Friday night.
But a three-pointer by Jessica Jackson broke a 2-2 tie with 6:14 left in the first quarter, and Jacksonville was off and running to a 70-47 victory over its cross-town rival at the Devils’ Den.
The Lady Red Devils outscored the Lady Falcons 27-3 in the second quarter to take command.
“We started finally executing some offensive sets,” Jacksonville coach Katrina Mimms said. “We knew coming into the game we wanted to play some man-to-man defense and we wanted to run more than one or two passes and execute and get some easy shots.”
Jackson, the Lady Red Devils’ freshman sensation, finished with 15 points, Chyna Davis scored 13 and Vonsay Evans had 12.
Daniesha Shelton led North Pulaski with 17 points and Laura Dortch scored 14.
North Pulaski battled to within 15-11 at the end of the first quarter, but Jackson, who has already gotten offers from Texas A&M and Arkansas, hit a three-pointer from the left wing and made a layup after a steal by senior Jessica Lanier.
Sherice Randell made a three-pointer with 6:12 left, following a steal by Kita Walker; Lanier made two free throws for the 24-11 lead and Jackson made two more free throws with 4:18 left in the half to make it 27-11.
North Pulaski ended the run with a free throw with 4:11 to go, but the Lady Falcons managed just two more points in the half, which ended on Davis’ three-pointer that made it 42-14.
With wholesale substitution going on, the third quarter turned sloppy and included a four-minute scoreless streak.
“We wanted to work on some things we weren’t doing very well at and that was kind of the game plan when we got a big lead,” Mimms said of the bench play.
Evans hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer for Jacksonville to make it 55-27 at the end of the period.