The Nevada Lady Jays dominated the Blevins Lady Hornets in the Jays’ first home game of the basketball season with the Lady Hornets seeming to lag badly from early in the game and the Jays literally towering over most of the Blevins players.
Blevins took the ball first but the Jays stole it before the Hornets could make the first basket. A clean shot from deep to the left of the basket by Nevada’s Allie Brown put the Jay’s on the board, 3-0.
Blevins made it to the key with their next possession but the Jays’ aggressive defense paid off and Nevada’s Ragen Thompson made a drive back to the Jays’ basket. Neither the drive nor the free throw was good and Blevins took control. The scene was replayed but this time the free throws were good and the Jays drove the lead up to 5-0.
The Jays rebounded the next shot and took the ball to their key where Brown made good on a wide shot for three. A foul earned her a trip to the free throw line and with one of the two good, the score stood at 9-0.
With five minutes left in the first period, Blevins threw the ball away and the Jays capitalized on the mistake. The Jays’ Hannah Hampton missed her first attempt but the ball was recovered by Thompson and the Jays surged farther ahead.
The Jays gained possession again and Brown failed to make the next shot. Blevins recovered but missed the shot and Macy McRae took it down the court for an easy layup, pushing the score to 14-0.
The Jays simply refused to ease up on the defense and Blevins, apparently rattled by the pressure, continued to miss when the opportunity to shoot arose. At the end of the first period, the Jays were up by 25 and Blevins had yet to score.
Blevins made several of their next attempts, including a free throw, and with just more than a minute and a half left in the first half of the ball game, Blevins was trailing badly, 35-6. With just less than a minute left, Blevins stepped out of bounds and handed the ball over to the Jays. Brown shot but missed and Blevins recovered but the final shot of the half was wild and the half ended with the Jays up by 29 points.
The second half started with Thompson, McRae, Brown, Kaitlin Gilbert and Hannah Hampton on the court for the Jays. With six minutes left in the third period, Blevins took the foul and made one of the two free throws, but by then the Jays had increased their lead and the score sat at 41-7.
The Jays immediately went to the key and Brown made an under the basket layup, taking the score to 43-7.
Nevada Lady Jays’ coach Stacy Cornelius made several substitutions in the third period, putting Kyana Gulley, Kyara Gulley and Fabrasha Miller on the court. Miller made the first score of the period, taking the score to 61-12. The game ended at 63-12.
High scorers were Hampton with 15 points, Brown with 14, McRae with 11 and Thompson with 10.
Prescott, Ark. —
