By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville Lady Titans dropped two games at the Turkey Crossover Classic last weekend at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock.
On Friday, Jacksonville fell 63-41 to eStem Charter School. In Saturday’s matchup, the Lady Titans fell way behind quickly en route to a 69-42 loss to Hot Springs.
Turnovers were a problem in both games. Jacksonville committed21 turnovers on Friday as the Lady Mets focused its defense on Jacksonville’s perimeter.
The Lady Titans only managed to take two 3-point shots, and missed them both. Jacksonville lost Tarnesha Womack, the team’s only experienced post player, to a broken arm that was suffered two weeks ago against Mills. That partially allowed eStem to focus its attention on the outside, and that proved to be a big difference in the game.
Both teams made 15 free throws and the Mets only outrebounded Jacksonville by two points. Second chance points were even, but eStem made four 3-pointers and scored 17 points off turnovers, to just eight for the Lady Titans.
Jacksonville trailed by a substantial 33-17 margin at halftime, but could mount no comeback, as eStem put the game away with a 21-9 advantage in the third quarter.
Jaylen Mallard of eStem led all scorers with 18 points, while Mariah Adams added 14 for the Lady Mets. Freshman Shy Christopher led Jacksonville with 14 while Martina Knight added nine.
In Saturday’s loss to Hot Springs, the Lady Trojans came out of the gate hot and scored 26 first-quarter points. That turned into a 44-22 halftime lead that Jacksonville never cut into.
Hot Springs center Keke Hunter scored 25 points while senior guard Josie Starr led Jacksonville with 13.
The Lady Titans hosted McClellan last night after Leader deadlines. Look for details of that game, as well as the boys’ matchup with the Lions, in Saturday’s edition of The Leader. The Jacksonville boys and girls will also play at Vilonia on Friday.
