Make no mistake about it, the North Forrest Lady Eagles run Region 8-2A. And for two years, there’s not been a close second. On Friday night, Otto Crawford’s bunch improved to 22-0 versus region opponents in that two-year span. Twenty-two came against St. Patrick, 50-33, as the Lady Eagles captured their second straight Region 8-2A title.
“Extremely proud of my team,” Crawford said. “Regardless of where we consider the district is, it’s hard to go out there and beat teams two or three times in a season. But like I tell everyone, we work hard for everything. Nothing was given. We’ve earned everything we’ve accomplished.”
The Lady Eagles improved to 21-7 overall with Friday’s win, and they’ll open the Class 2A playoffs next Monday having won 16 of their last 17 games. Only one in that span was decided by fewer than double digits. Most have come by 20 or 30-plus points, so very few teams have truly competed with them. St. Patrick managed to for about a quarter of play in Friday’s game.
Trailing North Forrest 22-9 at halftime, the Lady Irish answered with a 16-6 scoring run to cut the lead to three points, 28-25, early in the fourth quarter. That was as close as they could get it, though. The Lady Eagles answered with a 22-8 scoring run down the stretch to pick up yet another double digit win.
“We just gotta do a better job of finishing teams off when we’re up,” Crawford said. “But that experience there was good for us because we’re getting ready to go in the playoffs, and we needed that spark at the end.”
Mahogandy McNulty and Kailyn Wilson proved too tough for St. Patrick during the late scoring run as they combined to score 17 of those 22 points for North Forrest.
“I tell them all the time that I don’t wanna take away their aggression,” Crawford said of the duo. “They’re shooters by heart, and they really understand the game plan we try to execute. I believe in them.”
McNulty and Wilson finished with 16 and 13 points, respectively.
“They’re both fearless competitors.”
Now they’ll get a chance to showcase those abilities in the postseason. The Lady Eagles’ quest for back-to-back trips to Jackson begins Monday as they open the Class 2A playoffs at home against Enterprise.
“We just gotta keep competing and finish at the top,” Crawford said.
