By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Jackson-ville Lighthouse girls’ basketball team picked up its first win of the season, and first win in three years Tuesday, beating Marvell 38-19 at the Jacksonville Boys and Girls Club. The Lighthouse boys followed that with their sixth-straight win in a fast-paced 86-78 victory over the Mustangs.
JLC girls’ coach Chris Collier, who took over the program last year, was especially proud of his team since the win came with three preseason projected starters on the bench.
“We’ve got some injuries and other things that have had us shorthanded, so it was really good for these girls to get a win like this,” Collier said. “It shows them what good team defense and hard work can do.”
Lighthouse went into halftime in an unfamiliar position, holding an eight-point lead. Collier was worried his bunch was celebrating a little too early.
“It was really everybody else, too,” Collier said. “We went into halftime and everybody was applauding, and patting them on the back and saying what a great job they had done. I told them this game is not over and we don’t know how to play with a lead because we’ve never had one. And they got the message. They came out playing just as hard, and won it going away.”
Amaya English led the Lady Wolves with 14 points. Marla Duke added eight points and was also a force on defense.
“She’s easily our best defender,” Collier said of Duke. “If she had one steal she had a half dozen.”
Cieara Ellis pulled down 10 rebounds.
“I haven’t figured it up, but I’m sure she’s averaging double digit rebounds per game,” Collier said. “She had a great ballgame Tuesday.”
The win moved the Lady Wolves to 1-9 overall, but 1-0 in the 2A-4 East Conference. They will play another conference game Tuesday at Hazen.
The boys’ game was back and forth throughout the first half. Marvell led 21-17 by the end of the first quarter, but the Wolves battled back for a 38-36 lead by halftime. That margin was up to nine points by the end of the third, when Lighthouse posted 27 points without a single 3-pointer.
Four different Lighthouse players finished in double digits, led by senior Zack Bobo’s 23. Freshman Gerald Doakes had 20. Senior Chris Mims scored 11 and Eric Childs added 10 for the 9-1 Wolves.
It was just Marvell’s second game, and it fell to 1-1.
