Trailing 40-29 at the break, the Lady Bobcats scored the first seven points of the second half in 49 seconds, outscored the hosts 50-32 over the final 20 minutes and went to an important 79-72 decision over the Lady Bears.
The win gives JCJC a 7-3 mark in the South Division, while Southwest is now 6-3. The Lady Bears beat Jones 78-73 back on Jan. 14 in Ellisville. A possible factor in playoff seeding could be point differential and the Lady Bobcats would have a 2-point edge over Southwest if it comes down to that.
In the men’s game, the Bobcats took the lead for good midway through the second half and rolled to an 81-65 decision.
The Bobcats will play their final home game of the season on Thursday against Hinds Community College. It will be a special night at JCJC as the school will re-name the gym in honor of longtime former coach and athletic director A.B. Howard. It will also be “Pink Zone Night” for the women’s game as the Lady Bobcats support “Breast Cancer Awareness” and “Sophomore Night” for both the men’s and women’s teams.
The women’s game begins at 6 p.m., followed by the men’s game at 8 p.m. The games can be seen on www.jcjc.tv with Lance Pittman and Mark Easley on the call. Airtime will be 5:55 p.m.
Southwest visits Pearl River on Thursday.
Lady Bobcats 79, Lady Bears 72
Southwest controlled the first half and took a 40-29 lead at the break when Desiree Dotey hit a 40-footer at the buzzer.
But JCJC came out strong in the second half.
Erica Moore and Dominique Evans hit layups and Tanecka Carey hit a 3-pointer to make it 40-36 with 19:11 left.
The Lady Bobcats would tie it at 50-50 with 13:43 left when Brigit Taylor scored off an assist by Carey. JCJC took its first lead when Kiana Harris scored off an inbounds pass with 13:15 showing to make it 52-50.
Jones would then take the lead for good at 11:31 when Taylor made a free throw to make it 53-52.
JCJC continued the surge and took its longest lead of the night at 64-54 with 7:01 left when Ashley Lee scored on a putback. At that point, Jones had outscored the Lady Bears, 35-14, in the second half.
Southwest would claw back into the game. The closest the Lady Bears got was 73-70 with 1:39 remaining when Dotey hit a 3-pointer.
Dominique Evans hit a layup for Jones to make it 75-70 with 1:23 to play, but LaTonia Anthony answered for Southwest cut the lead back to 75-72 with 1:08 showing.
But Moore hit an 18-footer with 49 seconds remaining and Taylor made a layup with 26.4 seconds showing for the final margin.
Lee had another ‘double-double’ for Jones, now 16-5 overall. The Taylorsville sophomore forward had 20 points and 13 rebounds. Harris, a Jackson Provine freshman, had 14 points, while Carey, a Jackson Murrah freshman, added 13. Evans, a South Jones’ sophomore, finished with 11. Carey led the team with six assists.
JCJC outrebounded SMCC, 40-31.
Southwest, 11-5 overall, got 20 points from Anthony. Octavia Bearden had 17, Dotey added 12 and Alisha Rayborn had 10.
Bobcats 81, Bears 65
Southwest jumped out to a 7-0 just over two minutes into the game and led 19-14 midway through the half.
But the Bobcats came back and took their first lead of the game with 9:29 remaining when Kendrick McDonald hit a 3-pointer.
JCJC led 28-26 with just over five minutes left in the half. At that point, they went on an 11-1 run and took a 39-27 lead with 2:30 remaining when Todd McDonald scored.
The Bobcats would lead 42-31 at halftime.
JCJC’s biggest lead of the second half came at 81-63 with 42.8 seconds left when Todd McDonald scored.
Heidelberg sophomore Kendrick McDonald led the Bobcats, 14-7 overall and 8-2 in the division, with 21 points. Rayville, La., sophomore Brandon Wilson had 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Pascagoula High School freshman Andrew Marshall came off the bench to score 11 points.
Mitch Thompson had 14 for the Bears, 3-16 overall and 3-6 in league play.
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