By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Two minutes can be an eternity in a basketball game.
Just ask Jacksonville girls coach Katrina Mimms.
A scoring outage at the end of the game cost the Lady Red Devils, as West Memphis took a 50-44, 7A/6A-East Conference victory at the Devils Den on Tuesday.
“How many points did we score in the last two minutes?” Mimms said, knowing the answer. “We didn’t score in the last two minutes.”
Actually, it was more like three. Jacksonville’s last points came on a free throw by sophomore Jessica Jackson that gave the Lady Devils a 44-43 lead with 3:08 left.
With two minutes left, Jacksonville’s Jaquia Alexander fouled leading scorer Kiera Adams, who made both free throws to put the Lady Blue Devils in front to stay.
Jasmine Greer made two free throws after a Chyna Davis foul with 44.8 seconds left, after Jackson missed two for Jacksonville.
Cara Winn made it 48-44 with a free throw and missed her second shot, but West Memphis rebounded and Jackson fouled Greer with 15.3 seconds left and Greer made both her shots to close out the scoring.
“I thought it was the best game we came out of the dressing room ready to play,” Mimms said.
But despite the fast start, it hurt Jacksonville that Jackson sat out the third quarter with three fouls.
“Of course she’s their go-to girl and without her they struggle a little bit offensively,” West Memphis coach Sheila Burns said. “I thought we dida great job of taking advantage with her time out.”
West Memphis confused and frustrated Jackson with a 3-2 defense in the first half, and Mimms moved Jackson inside when she came back in. That led Burns to play a box-and-one.
“So every time she went low we had one in front and one behind the last minute and a half,” Burns said.
Nonetheless, Jackson scored eight of her 11 points in the final period. Tiffany Smith scored 10 points for Jacksonville.
Adams led all scorers with 23 points, getting 13 in the second half for West Memphis.
“I think we maintained,” Mimms said of the stretch without Jackson.
“And then I think it helped her with the rest and then she kind of sparked us coming back in and then down the stretch we just froze.”
Mimms felt, with Adams carrying four fouls, Jackson could exploit that and get to the basket, so she was moved from the perimeter.
“When we need a bucket we can put her down there and normally we can get something,” Mimms said.
Jacksonville outscored West Memphis 12-3 in the first quarter but West Memphis came back to outscore Jacksonville 23-13 in the second.
“We got a little tired and the other thing was they changed their defense,” Mimms said. “They went from a man, which we were hurting it, to a zone and they put [Adams] at the top of it and the small guards had to throw over it and we made a couple mistakes there.”
“We struggle so badly inside, putting the ball in the hole, we have to rely on our defense,” Burns said.
West Memphis made 12 of 13 free throws in the second quarter and took a 26-25 halftime lead.
“We had to take some seniors out; they had to do a little soul searching,” Burns said. “I put some sophomores in who played their little butts off. The seniors came in to finish the game and I think they realized if they don’t come out strong they’re going to have to sit and do a little watching.”
West Memphis built a 40-31 lead by the end of the third quarter, but Jacksonville put together a 10-1 run to tie it at 41 on Jackson’s jumper with 4:42 left.
Jackson gave Jacksonville the 43-41 lead with a baseline shot with 3:45 to go and added the team’s last points on her free throw with 3:08 to go.
The Lady Devils resumed conference play when they traveled to 6A/7A-East member Mountain Home on Friday night.
