Future Lady Jackets, former Lady Jackets, and fans of the
Lady Jackets all gathered together Tuesday night at John Horn High School in
Mesquite to watch our Rockwall Lady Jackets face the Lincoln Lady Tigers for
the third time in four years. Lincoln had won the previous two Regional
Quarterfinal match ups in 2009 and 2011 and came into the game with an
unblemished 29-0 record. Lincoln’s average margin of victory was 56.4 points per
game and was the favorite to return to Austin for the State Tournament, a feat
they have accomplished 7 of the last 11 years. But don’t tell that to these
Lady Jackets.
The Lady Jackets had hoped for a rematch ever since last
season’s game ended with Kayla Smith launching a desperation half court shot at
the buzzer that hit the backboard and hugged the rim before falling out and
dealing the Lady Jackets a 3 point loss to end the 2011 season. This time would
be different…
The Lady Jackets wouldn’t need any last second heroics,
instead Senior Kayla Smith iced the game by making 6 consecutive free throws in
the last 90 seconds to lead Rockwall to an impressive 50-42 win. The Lady
Jackets made their final 12 free throws of the game to keep the Lady Tigers
from ever really threatening in the 4th quarter.
Smith led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points followed
by Freshman Sara Williamson with 12 and Senior Post Alyssa Lang who added 11
points and controlled the boards all night.
Senior Paige Turner added 8 points and Junior Point Guard Morghen Day
scored 4 points and was brilliant in facilitating the Lady Jackets full court
and half court offense. But the difference in this game was the aggressive team
defense that kept Lincoln from ever getting into a scoring groove.
Rockwall was down 12-4 early in the game, but came out in
the 2nd quarter with a defense mindset. The Lady Jackets forced 4
turnovers in the first 5 possessions of the 2nd quarter to close the
gap on the Lady Tigers early lead. With a 19-8 2nd quarter scoring
advantage Rockwall would take a 25-20 halftime lead and never look back.
Lincoln averaged more than 70 points a game this season, but
could only muster 2 points in the first 5 minutes of the final period as
Rockwall shut the vaunted Lady Tiger offense down and advanced to the Regional
Semi-Finals where they will face Bryan Rudder at 6pm on Friday night at the
Garland Special Events Center.
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| Alyssa Lang Takes the Ball Away |
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| Kayla Smith Brings the Ball Up the Court |
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| Morghen Day Drives |
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| Alyssa Lang and Sara Williamson Play Stifling Defense |
