Scoring was quiet through the first few minutes of the Region 5-2A Tournament semi-final game between Bay Springs and Taylorsville Thursday night, but that quickly turned. A 10-2 run midway through the first period put the Lady Bulldogs in command, and Bay Springs never looked back as they went on to defeat the Lady Tartars in Tayorsville, 61-35.
Kaitlyn Ellis took control of the game for Bay Springs in the first period nailing 8 points as the Lady Bulldogs began to command the game. Bay Springs polished off the opening period leading 16-8.
Colton Blakeney got the Lady Tartars as close as they would get in the contest to catching Bay Springs with just over three minutes remaining in the second period on a layup to close the gap, 18-13. But, Bay Springs was able to create a number of turnovers and ran the floor well to take an 11-point lead into the half. Jayliyah Shelby hit a free throw late in the second period, and Hailee Nixon grabbed a steal and a basket with 59 seconds remaining in the half to give Bay Springs a 26-15 advantage heading in to the third period.
The Lady Bulldogs later stretched the lead to 41-21 through the third period and remained sharp in the final period to finish off the Lady Tartars.
Ellis paced the Lady Bulldogs with 18 points, and Shelby complemented her with 13 points. Zaria Louis was clutch in the second half and finished the game with 11 points. Alexus Nixon also pitched in 11 points in the win.
Now, a showdown tonight is set to take place for the Region 5-2A Tournament crown. Bay Springs will face nemesis Puckett. The two teams know each other well and finished off the regular season just about as close as any two teams could have. Puckett defeated Bay Springs at home during the regular season by 14 points. The Lady Bulldogs later returned the favor and topped the Lady Wolves by 14 points in Bay Springs. Both teams only had one region loss at the end of the regular season, and it took a fourth tie-break to determine that Puckett would be the No. 1 seed headed into the tournament.
Bay Springs head coach Nedra Hosey says she is looking forward to another competitive matchup against the Lady Wolves.
“It’s going to be a tough game. I just hope we get out there and give it our all. From now on, we need to play like it’s our last game,” she explained. “We’ve been focused on one game [at a time]. Tonight, we were focused on Taylorsville. So, now we have to rush in and focus on Puckett. I hope we can play our type of defense, our fast break, and compete like I know we can.”
Bay Springs and Puckett are scheduled to tip off Friday night at 7 p.m. in Taylorsville.
