Area basketball roundup

Area women’s teams stay alive in playoffs

The Jacksonville Fightin’ Maiden basketball team keeps their hopes of a state playoff alive. Having defeated the North Forney Lady Falcons, 63-46, in the Area round playoff, Jacksonville advances to the Regional Quarterfinals.

The Maidens were to face the Midlothian Lady Panthers, who defeated Royce City by a score of 62-53 to reach this stage of post-season play.

Jacksonville carried an overall record of 25-8 into the game against Midlothian, whose record is 19-10. Should the Maidens prove victorious, they will advance to the Regional Semifinal against Lone Star (23-9, 14-4), who defeated Denison Monday, Feb. 24, in their Regional Semifinal game.

The Rusk Lady Eagles advanced from Area to the Regional Quarterfinals after defeating Lorena, 41-36, Friday, Feb. 21, after beating Huntington by the same score, 41-36, in the Area-round playoff.

Rusk (16-12) was slated to play Gatesville (23-12) in the Regional Quarterfinal Tuesday, Feb. 25. Should the Lady Eagles prevail against the Lady Hornets, they will face the winner of the Hardin Jefferson (23-8) versus West Orange-Stark (21-12) game.

The Bullard Lady Panthers also remain in the playoffs following their win over the Canton Lady Eagles, 53-39. The Lady Panthers advanced to the Regional Quarterfinal to play the Pleasant Grove Lady Hawks, who had beaten Van to progress in the playoffs.

Bullard carried a 33-5 overall record into the game against Pleasant Grove (27-4) Tuesday, Feb. 25. The game was to be played at Marshall High School.

If Bullard should be victorious, they will advance to the Regional Semifinal round against the winner of the Lincoln (19-8, 9-1) versus Aubrey (19-13, 9-1) match.

The Alto Lady Jackets’ season ended with the Bi-district game against the Timpson Lady Bears Tuesday, Feb. 18. The Lady Jackets finished the season with an overall record of 21-15, 6-4 in district.

“I am so proud of the way my girls fought this season!” Head coach Sharae Schmitt wrote in a Facebook post. “We’ve broken records, fought through adversity and we’ve gotten so much better this season. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of young ladies to spend the last few months with.”

Men’s basketball enters post-season play

The Alto Yellowjackets lost by a single point, 44-43, to Cushing to end the season slate on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

Jay Pope led team scoring with 14 points, followed by Skyler Atkins with 12. KurrinSai Jackson and Keithen Jenkins sank six points apiece. Jackson Duplichain pitched in three points and Jerrion Skinner added two.

With the loss to Cushing, the two teams were tied for fourth place in District 21-2A. A tiebreaker seeding game was played Friday, Feb. 21, to determine who would enter playoff competition. The Jackets survived, 70-54, to join other teams which made it to bi-district playoffs.

Atkins was high scorer, dropping in 27 points.

Pope and Jenkins followed with 10 points each. Jackson pitched in nine points. Duplichain sank five points.

Skinner added three points; Terry, two.

The team held a 12-20 overall record, 4-6 district record going into the Bi-district game against the Shelbyville Dragons (30-3, 13-1) who finished at the top of the District 22-2A standings.

Should the Jackets defeat the Dragons, they would advance to the Area-round playoff against the winner of the Sabine Pass versus Zavalla match.

The Troup Tigers also finished their regular season schedule with a win over the Winona Wildcats, 62-60, Tuesday, Feb. 18. The win resulted in a Troup placing second in District 16-3A, just behind rival Arp.

The wealth of points was distributed throughout the team. Kedrick Frazier and Matthew Castillo dropped in 12 points each. Bracey Cover and Clayton Vickers sank 11 points apiece. Grayson Driggs and Blake Wood each added six points to the team total. Easton Haugeberg pitched in four points.

The Tigers dropped nine three-point shots compared to Winona’s seven. Castillo accounted for three treys while Frazier, Cover and Driggs each dropped in a pair of three-pointers.

Troup (26-9, 11-3) was slated to open post-season play against the Daingerfield Tigers (10-17, 7-7), who finished as the third-place team in District 15-3A.

The triumphant Tigers, Troup or Daingerfield, will be named Bi-district champions and advance to the Area playoff against the victor of the Commerce versus New Boston contest.