By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville girls’ basketball team picked up its fourth win this season in just its second home game. The Lady Red Devils pulled away early and beat Mount St. Mary 62-47. The quickness of Jacksonville’s guards was too much for the Belles, who stayed in man defense the entire game.
The Lady Red Devils’ defense forced several turnovers early, and MSM had no one who could stay in front of point guard Antrice McCoy on defense. The result was 23 points for the team’s lone returning starter from last year’s quarterfinal team.
“Antrice was just so much quicker than their players they had guarding her,” said Jacksonville coach William Rountree. “And they played us man the whole game so we were able to take advantage of that.”
Jacksonville built a double-digit lead by halftime, but Mount St. Mary made a run in the third quarter, cutting the margin to as little as five. After the bucket that got it to five, Jacksonville sophomore Alexis James drained a big 3-pointer that stole the momentum back for the home team.
“Bottom line is we have one starter back and we feel like we’re coming along,” Rountree said. “We rebounded better, which is something we emphasized in practice. Our pre-conference schedule has been tough, which is good for us. We’re going to take a little time off and get ready to play in our Classic.”
James added 16 points for Jacksonville and Desiree Williams scored 11.
Jacksonville doesn’t play again until it faces Brookland in the first round of the Red Devil Classic at JHS on Dec. 22. They will face North Pulaski in the second round on Dec. 23.
