The 41-36 victory over Mansfield on Friday wasn’t pretty but oh so sweet. And needed too! Coming into the second district contest of the season the Tigers were mired in a three-game losing streak and had suffered nine defeats in their last eleven games. Granted, each of the losses came against schools from a higher classification sans the most recent loss this past Tuesday, which was at the hands of defending Class AA semi-finalist and fellow district 3-2A member Lakeview (see below). Still, the Tigers needed to get the taste of so many losses out of their mouths.
The probability of enjoying the sweet taste of success was certainly in doubt. Mansfield entered into the contest with an impressive 8-2 mark which makes the victory all the more succulent and lends credence to the virtues of the continuous challenges that JHHS has faced through the demanding pre-district schedule.
“There is no question that we have played the hardest schedule of anyone in our division and coupled with having to replace four starters from last and several guys getting a late start due to them playing football it has taken a toll on our record,” said JHHS head coach Allen Tew. “Still I like where we are going forward as the guys are working hard to get better. We are playing well on defense and if we can start making some shots we should be in good shape.”
At the end of the first half, it looked like the Tigers were destined to be looking uphill to the rest of the district and saddled with an 0-2 start as they trailed 27-17. If it does turn out that the Tigers change their fortunes the rest of the way you can look back to the second half on Friday.
“We decided that we needed to be more physical and the guys stepped up and really got after it,” reflected Tew.
The change in strategy had a tremendous effect on the game as Mansfield went from making 10 of 26 shots in the first half to just 3 of 18 in the second. The Tigers also forced 8 turnovers compared to just four in the first half. The result was Mansfield scored only 9 points in the entire second half. While the Tigers never really did “find the mark” the offense improved to register 24 second-half points giving the Tigers a 15-point advantage and victory.
Ajay Tew and Zion Gray both hit a pair of three-pointers and reached double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively followed by Savantez Phillips and Jarrius Lumpkin checking in with eight and seven points giving the Tigers a balanced, albeit, low scoring attack. Cameron Leonard made three and Edward Beard added two.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | TOTAL |
| JHHS (6-9, 1-1) | 5 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 41 |
| MHS (8-3, 1-1) | 12 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 36 |
MHS Scoring: Robinson 11, Bailey 9, Murray 6, Jenkins 6, Ikner 2, Thomas 2
Lakeview 70 JHHS 62 (Tuesday): Cameron Leonard scored 15 to nearly double his best season scoring output but it wasn’t enough to stop Jonesboro-Hodge from falling to Lakeview 70-62 in the district 3-2A opener for both schools. Savantez Phillips finished with 14 points, Ajay Tew added 13 and Zion Gray chipped in with 11 in the contest that saw JHHS receive six technical fouls and lose for the seventh time in the last eight games to drop to 5-9 on the year. The victory was the seventh without a loss on their home floor for the defending Class AA state semifinalist who improved to 14-6 and protected their gaudy #4 ranking in Division IV among “non-select” schools.
Hot from the start, Leonard easily eclipsed his previous high of 8 points early in the second quarter, but other than his 13 first-half points, the Tigers managed just five more as Lakeview built a commanding 37-18 lead by the break. To their credit, the Tigers continued to play hard and gave a strong second-half effort that ended with JHHS outscoring Lakeview 44-33 to narrow the final margin to just eight points.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | TOTAL |
| JHHS | 11 | 7 | 15 | 29 | 62 |
| LHS | 20 | 17 | 11 | 22 | 70 |
LHS Scoring: Jones 20, Sowell 15, Driver 10, Taylor 8, Joseph 4, Harris 2, Phillips 2, Smith 2, Pikes 2
Lady Tigers struggle to score
The pains of having to replace nearly 85% of the offense from a year ago are still being felt leaving head coach Kris Cash still searching for a way to generate some offense. Experiments with different combinations on the floor have been ongoing all season. There have been times when the young LadyTigers seem to be turning the corner such as the three-game winning streak in early December where J-H averaged 43.3 points per game and the four-game stretch registered before district play began when the girls averaged just under 40 points in each.
The beginning of district 3-2A this past week though has seen the Lady Tigers suffer through the worst scoring drought of the season. Other than the 10 points scored in the first quarter against Lakeview the most the LadyTigers have been to score since is seven in the third quarter against Mansfield and no more than three in any of the others resulting in 56-16 and 53-12 defeats. The losses dropped JHHS to a 3-13 overall record and 0-2 in district play. A bright spot has been the play of freshman Morgan Magee who is averaging 8.1 points per game to lead JHHS in scoring and lending promise to a brighter future.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | TOTAL |
| JHHS | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 16 |
| LHS | 22 | 19 | 12 | 3 | 56 |
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | TOTAL |
| JHHS | 3 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| MHS | 13 | 9 | 19 | 12 | 53 |