Jackson’s big night vaults Green Sea Floyds into third round
No basketball coach can be sure exactly what team will take the floor following a three-hour bus ride.
Fortunately for Green Sea Floyds girls hoops coach Tracy Kienast, his squad showed no ill effects from its long journey to the Charleston area Thursday evening.
Tamara Jackson scored 31 points to lead the Trojans into the Lower State Class A semifinal round, defeating Palmetto Scholars Academy 55-40.
The Trojans will face either Cross or Hannah-Pamplico on Monday night, with a berth in next Saturday’s Lower State final hanging in the balance.
According to Kienast, a well-designed plan to keep players refreshed and ready for game time paid off.
“We left earlier, and our principal worked well with us to make sure everything worked smoothly,” he said. “Along the way we got to eat, allowed players to rest, but also woke them up at a reasonable time so they couple get off the bus refreshed and ready to go.”
Despite dominating the first half of play, the Trojans were only up by seven at halftime. A squad rather inconsistent in its play coming out of the break, Kienast was rather pleased to see his team push forward in the second half, never allowing host Palmetto Scholars to gain any momentum.
“Our players really responded well. We were able to push the lead back out to double digits with a quick start,” he said. “One of our starters was sick and not able to play. But our whole bench stepped up and played some key minutes for us.
In addition to Jackson’s big night, also scoring in double figures was Jalinda Johnson with 11 points for Green Sea Floyds.
GSF | 15 | 8 | 20 | 12 | — | 55 |
PSA | 5 | 11 | 10 | 14 | — | 40 |
GSF (55): Tamara Jackson 31, Jalinda Johnson 11, Kyneishia Graham 2, Breionna Gore 2, Aleleah McCall 5, Salena McCall 2, Zian Johnson 2.
PSA (40): Jessica Dean 15, La’Royalty Jones 22, Camryn Beaufort 1, Sharice Gabe 2.
3-pointers: GSF 2 (Johnson, A. McCall), PSA 1 (Dean). Team fouls: GSF 13, PSA 18. Fouled out: L. Jones. Technical fouls: None.
Records: GSF 15-6, PSA 10-4.
Class 3A Playoffs
Ridgeland-Hardeeville 68, Loris 38: Making the more than three-hour drive to the southern tip of the state, the Lions saw their season end at the hand of Region VII-3A champion Ridgeland-Hardeeville.
This story was originally published February 16, 2017 at 9:27 PM with the headline "Jackson’s big night vaults Green Sea Floyds into third round."