Sparkman girls make statement in win over Bob Jones
Alexis Jennings of Sparkman
Sparkman backed up their #1 in 6A ranking Friday night with a 54-37 win over #4 ranked Bob Jones in Class 6A Area 15 action at Sparkman.
The Sparkman girls ran their record to 10-0 behind Alexis Jennings 29 points and 11 rebounds. Bob Jones was led by Nadia Jones with 15.
“Any time you beat Bob Jones it’s a good win,” said Senators coach Patrick Delay.
The two long time rivals did not play last year and Sparkman was motivated to make sure there was no letdown. The team is further motivated by last year’s early exit from the playoffs as they lost to Buckhorn in the first round of the area tournament.
The Senators led 11-6 after one quarter and 23-13 at the half.
Not even losing starting point guard Maiya Rumph to an ankle injury slowed down the Senators.
Sparkman’s biggest lead was 50-32 late in the game.
Sparkman had a big advantage on the boards, outrebounding Bob Jones 46-35. The tall front line goes past the 6-foot-1 Jennings. Kendra Dawkins and Toni Brewer both come in at about 6-foot tall. All three can run the floor on fast break opportunities created by their pressure defense.
“One thing we really pride ourselves on is offensive rebounding. We’ve got a big athletic team so if we miss it we have a good chance of getting the rebound,” Delay said.
Sparkman’s big girl’s can stay with any player on the defensive end and the pressure eventually wore down the smaller players from Bob Jones.
The only thing that went wrong for Sparkman was losing Rumph in the third quarter. She stayed on the bench with an ice bag on her ankle.
“We’ve got 11 kids that come ready to play every day and I am not afraid to put any of them in,” Delay said.
While the season is still young, missing Rumph for any length of time could spell trouble down the road for Sparkman.
“Maiya is a big part of our plans going forward.” Delay admitted. Sparkman is now 3-0 in area play.
Senior starting guard Nicole Martin led Sparkman with 2 three-point baskets. According to Delay, Martin is being recruited by several different colleges for basketball.
Sparkman is now 3-0 in area play.
Sparkman girls will wrap up regular season action for the year Monday at Florence and then will be back in action at the Wills Valley Shoot-out in Ft. Payne December 20-22. They get back into area action on January 4 at Bob Jones.
