Jarliyah Shelby, Katie Ellis and Zaria Lewis dominated the court for Bay Springs Monday night in Bay Springs as the Lady Bulldogs easily downed St. Joseph Catholic School (59-34) in the opening round of the MHSAA South 2A Basketball Tournament. Â
Shelby and Ellis dominated in the paint and hit shots at the charity stripe, and Louis paced a fast tempo for Bay Springs that ended up with her grabbing six steals that led to points for the Lady Bulldogs, including 8 points she bagged in the game.
Both Shelby and Ellis finished with 14 points a apiece in the contest. Â
Bay Springs jumped out to a 4-0 cushion on the back of Shelby, and never lost that lead in the game. Shelby ended the first period with a layup compliments of a steal and pass by Louis to give Bay Springs a 17-7 edge at the end of the first. Â
Louis opened the second period with a steal and a layup to give the Lady Bulldogs a 19-10 lead, and the onslaught ensued.   Bay Springs led 37-13 at the half. Â
Ellis got most of her work done in the third periods. She hit two quick back-to-back jumpers early in the period, and a layup with 2:09 left in the same period to help extend the Lady Dawgs’ lead to 41-15. Â
Head coach Nedra Hosey then watched her team cruise through the final period to earn the win and advance to the second round of the playoffs.
(Article written by Heath Walley)
