James Clemens advances with win over Florence

Hailey Hicks had 16 points for James Clemens photo contributed by Floyd Parks

Decatur- In their first year of play, James Clemens girls have advanced into the sub-state round of the playoffs. The Jets defeated Florence 44-37, Thursday night, Feb.7 in the Area 16, Class 6A tournament hosted by Austin.

The Area 16 rivals were meeting for the third time this season but this time their season was on the line. Florence’s season is now over. James Clemens advances to meet Austin who defeated Decatur 61-30. The championship game will be Monday night at 6 p.m.

Before the game, Jets head Coach Jeff Dunnavant said, “it’s very difficult to beat a quality opponent such as Florence three times in the same season and we’ll have to play our best game of the year.”

However, even though Dunavant’s varsity girls walked away with the victory, it was far from their best.

The frustration built as the Jets endured a very cold shooting night through the first three quarters, hitting only 31 percent from the field. However, late in the fourth, junior point guard Hailey Hicks provided the spark that would carry the Jets to a hard fought victory.

With the game tied at 32, Hicks hit a put back two at the 4:11 mark that would put the Jets ahead for good. Hicks scored 8 of her game high 16 points during the 4th, and had 2 key steals during that stretch. In support of Hicks, forward Markayla Parker contributed 13 points in the paint for James Clemens.

Florence was led by sophomore forward Alexis Sherrod, who finished the game with 13 points, as she worked inside the paint.