Lady Jags bounce Bryant in first round, 41-37

The Northridge Lady Jags traveled across town to Hillcrest High School to take on the Paul W. Bryant Lady Stampede in the first round of the AHSAA Class 6A Area 6 basketball playoff. The Lady Jags overcame a four point deficit at the start the fourth quarter and went on to win the game by four, 41-37.

Both teams started out shooting decently well, resulting in a 16-13 lead for Bryant at the end of the first quarter. The scoring for Northridge was spread out nicely, with five Lady Jags scoring in the first quarter. Both teams cooled off significantly in the second quarter. The Lady Jags did “win” the second quarter even though they only scored five points, but the Lady Stampede only managed two. Teams headed into halftime tied 18-18.

The third quarter saw the Lady Stampede put 10 points on the board. The Lady Jags only put six on the board, resulting in a Bryant lead of 28-24 heading into the last stanza. At the 1:54 mark of the fourth, the Lady Jags had clawed their way to within one, trailing 36-35. With 58.4 seconds to go, the game was tied at 37-37, after a made free throw by Bryant. With about 40 seconds left, Ava Maye drove across the lane and put a left-handed layup in the basket to give the Lady Jags a 39-37 lead. On the ensuing defensive possession, Diamond Chankio pulled down a rebound and found Taylor Ivory, who was out ahead of everyone, for an easy layup to put the Lady Jags up by four, 41-37, with 15 seconds to go. Northridge effectively thwarted a desperation scoring attempt by Bryant and escaped with the 41-37 win.

Jakeya Horton led the Lady Jags with 14 points. Ivory and Maye, who played critical roles in the win, had nine and seven, respectively. Chankio totaled six and Ryleigh Brooke Norris contributed five. Ryan Bardenwerper ended the night with one point.