It took the Bay Springs Lady Bulldogs a few minutes to get heated up Friday night in the second round of the MHSAA 2A South basketball playoffs. But, once head coach Nedra Hosey’s group got warm, they controlled the game against visiting Bogue Chitto, and left the court with a 58-35 victory over the Lady Bobcats.
Bay Springs trailed only once in the game when Bogue Chitto’s Deanna Edwards lifted a layup to give the Lady Bobcats a 5-4 lead with 3:41 left in the first period. From there, the Lady Bulldogs went on to dominate. The win vaulted Bay Springs into the third round of the playoffs. The Lady Bulldogs will face Puckett Monday night at 7 p.m. for a chance to advance to the state tournament in Jackson.
“I am proud of them. They came out and got the job done,” Hosey said of her team following the game. “We missed some shots, and I felt that they were a little excited when the game started, but they settled down. Bogue Chitto came out and played us a good first half. Finally, when we were able to settle down, we were able to pull away a little bit.”
Consecutive baskets by Kaitlyn Ellis, Zaria Louis, and Hailee Nixon, and a free throw by Jaliyah Shelby gave the Lady Bulldogs a comfortable 12-6 cushion heading into the second period. Later in the period, an Ellis feed to Nixon pushed the Bay Springs lead to 22-11 just before the half.
Bay Springs controlled the third period with good defense and decent shooting. Ellis capitalized on a steal that led to a 3-point play with a layup and trip to the charity stripe to extend the Lady Bulldogs’ lead to 27-13 early in the third. She went on to drop two more deuces in the third, while Shelby also cashed in two 2-pointers to help stretch the Bay Springs advantage to 37-23 by the end of the period.
Ellis hit two layups to begin the fourth period, and Louis drained a three to give Bay Springs its largest lead of the game at 44-26. Shelby polished things off for the Lady Dawgs later in the period when she hit three baskets in the paint during the final two minutes of the contest.
Ellis led all scorers in the game with 19 points. Nixon finished with 12 points for Bay Springs, and Shelby scored 11. Louis pitched in 7 points, and Brittany Brown and ZyBrala Mackey both finished the game with 4 points apiece.
Kamilah Clay led Bogue Chitto in scoring with 13 points.
(Articvle written by Heath Walley)
