Lady Patriots ‘pink out’ Hoover

DeAsha Campbell drives to the basket during the Lady Patriots' 39-27 victory Nov. 30 over the defending state champion Hoover Bucs.

Jasmine Jones finished with a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds Tuesday, Nov. 30, as the Bob Jones Lady Patriots’ basketball team “pinked out” the defending state champion and undefeated Hoover Bucs, 39-27.

The Patriots wore pink uniforms Tuesday, complete with pink shoelaces, in an effort to raise breast cancer awareness and funds for the Liz Hurley Foundation.

Even Bob Jones head coach Tim Miller sported a pink tie for the game.

The last time the two teams went head-to-head was in the Class 6A state championship, and the Lady Bucs emerged victorious, 39-19.

But this time, the Patriots had Sparkman transfer Jones, who put the game away Tuesday with a free throw and a spin-move in the waning seconds.

“I just took what she gave me,” Jones said of the spin-move layup that brought the crowd to its feet. “This win is a lot of motivation for our team.”

That move, Bob Jones head coach Tim Miller said, is indicative of what Jones can accomplish.

“Jasmine is such a good kid and everybody loves her,” Miller said. “She just doesn’t even know how good she can be.”

The Patriots fell behind early in the low-scoring game, but Lindsey Jennings took the ball from a Hoover guard with seconds remaining in the first quarter and fed it to Drea Matthews for the go-ahead bucket to put Bob Jones on top 7-5.

The Patriots never trailed again.

The Patriot’ defense limited the Bucs to just three points in the second quarter, and Bob Jones took a 21-8 lead into the locker room.

“We felt like we could pressure their guards, and the girls did a great job of that tonight,” said Miller.

In the third quarter, Matthews hit a three-pointer to extend the Patriots’ lead to 28-16, but the Bucs nailed a three at the buzzer to cut the lead back to nine.

In the final quarter, the Bucs cut the lead to seven, but Jones took over in the final minutes to give the Patriots the victory.

Following Jones was Katie Colson with 10 points and Rikeyah McKinnon and Matthews with five points apiece.

DeAhsa Campbell finished with five steals and five assists.

For Hoover, Nicole Tanner had a team-high 10 points, followed by Breigha Cochran with seven points.

The Patriots will return to action Friday as they travel to Sparkman.

“It’s going to be weird, but it’s going to be intense,” Jones said.