Lady Jags survive to claim Area 6 Tourney Title over Bryant, 40-36

The Northridge Lady Jags secured the AHSAA Class 6A Area 6 tournament title on Saturday at The Ridge. However, it was not a typical Lady Jags win. After losing both regular season games to the Lady Jags in the regular season, the Paul W. Bryant Lady Stampede had a different plan for the tournament championship game. Bryant kept the game close in the first quarter and limited the Lady Jags to only three points in the second quarter. A 2-point halftime lead for Northridge vaporized in the third quarter and resulted in a lead for the Lady Stampede going into the final quarter of regulation. In the end, the Lady Jags were able to right the ship and come away with a 4-point victory to claim the Area 6 tournament crown.

Northridge shot decently well in the opening quarter and played defense well enough to hold the visitors to nine points, resulting in a 15-9 lead after one complete quarter of play. The second quarter saw the Lady Jags score only three points – something I don’t remember in my time covering basketball at The Ridge. Bryant added seven to their total and headed into halftime only down two points, 18-16. Of note, Ryan Bardenwerper had not hit a single shot in the first two quarters of play.

The low scoring precedent continued in the third quarter. But, the Lady Stampede outscored Northridge 10-6, flipping their 2-point deficit to a 2-point advantage, for a 26-24 lead, heading into the final quarter of regulation. With Bryant leading 28-27, La’Miah Foy hit a shot under the basket to give the Lady Jags a 29-28 lead and kick start the comeback bid by the Lady Jags with a little over six minutes to go. On Northridge’s next possession, Foy dropped in two free throws to get the Lady Jag lead up to three at 31-28.

After a Bryant free throw moved the score to 31-29, Bardenwerper hit a 3-pointer to increase the Lady Jags’ lead to 34-29. Two more Foy free throws with 2:38 remaining took the Northridge lead to 36-29. A short Bardenwerper jumper pushed the Lady Jag lead to 38-29 with 1:46 to go.

After the Lady Stampede went on a 5-0 run to make it 38-34, Foy hit 1-of-2 free throws to push the lead to 39-34. After Bryant added two points to close it to 39-36, the Lady Jags missed two from the line with under 17 seconds left. After a failed Lady Stampede possession, Bardenwerper hit the second of two free throws with 9.6 seconds to go, giving Northridge the final margin of victory at 40-36.

Foy led the Lady Jags with 10 points. She also added three rebounds and two assists. Bardenwerper followed with nine points and collected 10 rebounds. Jakeya Horton totaled eight points and snagged two rebounds. Aleia Morrell finished with six points and seven rebounds. Taylor Ivory contributed four points and three assists. Bayne Brown had two points and two rebounds. And Ava Maye finished out the scoring column with one point, while grabbing two rebounds.

Aleia Morrell and Bardenwerper were named to the All-Tournament Team and Foy was selected as the Tournament MVP.

The Lady Jags will host the sub-regional game Friday at the Ridge against the Pelham Lady Panthers at 6PM.