Lady Patriots take area tournament

The Lady Patriots clinched the Area 15 title against Austin High School, 50-45.

The Feb. 12 game wasn’t as easy for the Lady Patriots as it was the previous night against Florence.

Jasmine Jones, one of the top scorers against Florence, was the top scorer of the night with 22 points.

Austin started the first quarter with an almost instant seven-point lead.

Tierra Jones was the first on the team to score, toward the end of the quarter.

BJ didn’t catch up to Austin until the second quarter. From there on, the entire game was a barnburner for both teams.

The Lady Patriots managed to pull ahead toward the end of the second half.

“It’s a game where they know us, and we know them,” said Head Coach Tim Miller. “They came out and jumped on us quick in the first quarter an made some shots. We had to come ready to play. Drea Matthews got us a little lead and we had to hold on to the end of the game.”