Lady Patriots heading to Sweet 16 in Hanceville

Jasmine Jones gets position following a missed free throw to put back two of her 12 points in the Patriots' 56-27 sub-region win over Hazel Green.

In wasn’t exactly pretty, but the Bob Jones Lady Patriots did what they had to do Thursday night to advance to the Sweet 16 in Hanceville with a 56-27 win over Hazel Green in the sub-region game at BJHS.

The Patriots opened a 16-4 lead over the Trojans in the first quarter, capping it with a coast-to-coast buzzer-beater by Joidon Jennings, and then extended it to 29-12 at the half.

“(Hazel Green’s) shots were off tonight, but I hope we had something to do with that,” said Bob Jones head coach Tim Miller. “There’s no doubt we’re playing better than we were a month ago.”

The Patriots blew the game open in the second half with a 41-16 third-quarter lead before putting the game away in the fourth, but Miller was not happy with his team’s free throw shooting down the stretch.

Bob Jones finished 16-of-34 from the charity stripe on the night.

“Free throws are mental, but it looked like it was contagious tonight,” Miller said. “We’ve got to hit free throws to win championships.”

Jasmine Jones led the Patriots with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds, followed by China Leary and Rikeyah McKinnon with eight points apiece.

Tierra Jones led the Patriots under the boards with 13 rebounds, while Katie Colson finished with 10.

For Hazel Green, Chelsea Carter finished with a team-high 10 points.

The Patriots will play at Wallace State Community College on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at noon.