Sherri Cooley’s message after the first quarter proved true.
“Games aren’t won in the first quarter,” said the South Jones girls basketball coach to her team at the end of the first period inside Petal’s gymnasium.
As it turned out, the red-hot start by Petal Tuesday night didn’t last past the first eight minutes of play. South Jones overcame a 13-point first quarter deficit to win its eighth game of the season, 67-54.
“When we played Bay Springs the other day, we led 13-0 right off the bat,” said Cooley. “But then Bay Springs closed the gap and we ended up going into overtime. So, I told our girls that games aren’t won in the first quarter.
“The tide turned tonight. They saw it. Petal went up big on us in the first quarter. I told our girls that we are going to play good defense, close the gap then take the lead. And they did that.”
Petal’s hot start boiled over after senior guard Jada Arrington buried back-to-back 3-point shots midway through the first period. It gave Petal a commanding 14-6 lead. Her first three opened the scoring seconds after tip-off.
Petal sank a total of five three’s in the first period. And not another one after.
“Petal hits those 3-pointers,” said Cooley. “No. 4 [Arrington] was hot [behind the arch]. I had Ebony Fulford cover her from that point on and she did a great job against her [on defense].”
After scoring 11 in the first quarter, Arrington was held to just 10 points for the game’s remaining three periods.
South Jones did its best work in the second quarter, outscoring Petal 22-5 to carry a four-point lead (32-28) into the locker room.
Senior forward and JCJC Lady Bobcat commit Endia Holliday led the Lady Braves with 19 points. Of her 19 points, 11 were scored in the fourth period.
“Endia got in early foul trouble,” Cooley said. “She had three fouls at the half. I didn’t want to risk her fouling out, so I didn’t start her in the third quarter. Once she got back on the floor, she helped us out with hustle, defense, rebounding and scoring key baskets down the stretch.”
The team’s leading rebounder finished with eight, a team-high as well.
South Jones juniors Kelsi Jackson and Jordan Clark, and sophomore Ebony Fulford also finished with points in the double-digits. Jackson and Clark had 13 apiece, while Fulford scored 12.
Arrington led Petal with 21 points, and senior Taityana Pittman finished with 10.
South Jones (8-1) faces county rival Northeast Jones (2-5) this Friday night at home.
Petal (5-3) will host another Jones County foe, West Jones (7-1), this Friday night.
Boys game
Petal pounced South Jones in the boys game, 76-30.
Treylan Smith led Petal with 21 points. Caleb McGill, Mykak Brown and Marquise Bridges scored in double-digits too.
Petal improves their win streak to six games and is 6-1 on the season. South Jones falls to 0-6.
