Tigerette defense shines in 51-25 win over Henrietta

You hold a team to 15 percent shooting and a win should come easily.

A person would think that but …

Henrietta stuck around well into the second half but the Jacksboro defense forced the visitors into missing their last 20 shots from the floor which enabled the Purple to pull away and post a closer than it looked 51-25 win Jan. 12.

Jacksboro closed the first round of District 7-3A with a 3-3 ledger. Tigerette mentor Kyle Wood said his charges were able to put together a complete game.

“We played hard and it was nice to see the ball go in the bucket as well,” Wood mused. “I think when we play good defense, it spawns our energy and things just go from there.

Brynn Pardue was part of that energy, the junior guard burying six three-pointers for a game-high 18 points. Jacksboro took a comfortable 13-point lead into halftime, 24-11. Henrietta wasn’t quite ready to give in and got within 25-18 with 4:40 left in the third.

It would be as close as the Lady ‘Cats would get, Jacksboro finishing the quarter on a 9-2 skein. Traci Berend and Hadlee Richardson buckets would set the table for Pardue’s fifth three of the game in the final minute and give the Tigerettes a 34-20 lead heading to the fourth frame.

Henrietta would score all its fourth quarter points from the free throw line. Pardue got some help from Teagan Reynolds and Avery Bennett to boost the lead to 18 early in the quarter. Pardue’s final three was matched by an outside bomb by Bennett, who had all seven of her points in the final stanza.

Jacksboro converted 37 percent to its shows on 19-52 shooting. The Purple were 10-22 shooting, or 45 percent in the final two quarters.

The Tigerettes made just 30 percent of their first half shots. Jacksboro went more than five minutes of the first quarter without a point which kept Henrietta close. The Lady ‘Cats had gotten within 10-4 but a pair of Alex Holman buckets gave Jacksboro back their early 10-point lead as the second quarter started.

Henrietta got within five early in the second, as the Tigerettes missed their first 10 floor attempts. Pardue’s three-pointer with 3:42 left in the quarter would be Jacksboro’s first points. She would add a third three-pointer late to balloon the lead to 24-11 at intermission.

Kimora Carter’s seven points paced Henrietta.