The easy thing for the Jenkins girls basketball team would have been to call it a night on Friday and end their season.
Little was going right for the host Warriors, who totaled only 13 points in the first half and trailed Jefferson by 12 in their GHSA Class 3A second-round playoff game.
But in the second half, Jenkins played with more patience, and their shots started to fall. The defense, which has been its foundation, limited the Dragons to only 13 points over the last two quarters.
Jenkins rallied to take its first lead with 6:48 left in regulation and completed the comeback with a 47-38 victory before jubilant fans who stayed through two very different halves.
Jenkins coach Brianna Brooker said her players had “a hunger and a desire” to keep the season alive.
“It’s not me. It’s the kids for sure,” Brooker said, smiling after the rousing finish. “They won it. They know the message all week has been (to) continue to etch your name in history. They are doing that. They did that last Tuesday by making it to the Sweet 16. They just did it again by making it to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. They want it. They want to win.”
The Warriors (19-8) have won seven straight games, including the Region 3-3A tournament championship game over Calvary Day, 48-39, on Feb. 15 and the playoff opener over Richmond Academy, 81-14, on Tuesday.
The deepest playoff run in the history of the Jenkins girls basketball program continues this Tuesday at top seed Pickens (27-2), a 74-55 winner over Calhoun on Friday. The quarterfinal game’s start time is to be announced.
For the first two quarters, it didn’t appear that Jenkins would be making plans for next week. But the Warriors defied expectations, just like last fall’s flag football team, which included many of the same players and made school history with a run to the Division 2 state semifinals.
“The work (at practice) shows on the floor. We work hard,” said junior guard Ke’Ara Jones, who tallied a team-high 14 points on Friday in a balanced scoring attack.
PHOTO: HV Jenkins Ke’Ara Jones driving to the basket - Daniel Luu - Luubie Shots Photography
Jones said the Warriors hadn’t played the Dragons (22-6) this season, so they had to figure out their opponent.
“Our coach told us they were good; we didn’t know what to expect,” Jones said.
The Dragons got off to a stronger start, with senior point guard Emeri Billings, one of the smaller players on the court, scoring 12 of her 14 points in the first half.
“When they were doing everything, it was shocking,” Jones said. “As we played and continued, we were catching on to everything, stopping No. 2 (Delaney Dewitt), stopping No. 1 (Billings). We were just taking them away one by one away.”
With 18 seconds gone in the third quarter, there was a delay of about nine minutes because a shot clock malfunctioned, then each team put up two points as Jefferson maintained its largest lead of the game, 27-15.
Then, as Jones said, the Warriors caught on to what the Dragons were doing and outscored them 16-6 for the quarter. The defense created turnovers, and the offense started to focus more on 6-foot-1 junior center Taylor Young.
“We switched up and went man (defense), something we normally don’t do,” Brooker said. “But we went man and it worked. The aggression was there. Defense has been the name of the game all season, and that’s what is keeping us here.”
Point guard I’Yarna Lee penetrated the lane and dished to Young for a layup and a 29-25 deficit with just over two minutes left in the third quarter. Young gathered a pass in the lane, spun, and swished a floater that excited the partisan crowd and cut Jefferson’s lead to two.
PHOTO: HV Jenkins Point Guard I’Yarna Lee running the offense - Daniel Luu - Luubie Shots Photography
“In the first half, I believe we rushed it a little bit,” Brooker said. “We told them in the locker room at halftime to just slow it down, run our offense, exploit our advantages, which are our bigs and our speed and our physicality on defense. So that is what flipped the game.”
The game was tied at 29 on Iycess Scott’s two free throws, but Billings sank two foul shots with 33 seconds left to restore the lead for the Dragons.
PHOTO: HV Jenkins Iycess Scott at the foulline - Daniel Luu - Luubie Shots Photography
That would only be temporary. Young tied the score at 31 on a putback 45 seconds into the final period. After the Dragons missed two foul shots, Jones gave the Warriors their first lead when she drove for a layup and was fouled.
Though Jones missed the free throw, teammate A’Niyah Browner drilled a high-arching 3-pointer to electrify Jenkins fans and cause Jefferson to call timeout down 36-31 with 6:24 remaining.
PHOTO: HV Jenkins A’Niyah Browner for three - Daniel Luu - Luubie Shots Photography
Jenkins kept rolling, as Young made a free throw and Lee put back the missed second attempt for a 39-31 advantage. After the Dragons split two shots at the line, the Warriors stayed patient, chewing up the clock before Jones sank an outside jumper.
When Young fed Scott for an open layup to beat the defense, Jenkins had its largest lead at 43-32 with 4:25 left in the fourth.
Dewitt gave the Dragons some hope by converting a three-point play 10 seconds later, and Brooker called timeout.
The Warriors’ edge was down to five points, 43-38, after Michel Robbins stole the inbounds pass from under the basket, made a layup, was fouled, and converted the three-point play with 1:12 remaining.
Jefferson made another steal but missed the layup and was perplexed and then upset by what it thought was an ignored foul on the play.
Jenkins kept its cool, with Jones and Scott each making a pair of free throws in the final 39 seconds to secure the victory.
“I think in the first half, we were reacting to how fast they were moving the ball, to their outside shots, that kind of thing,” Brooker said. “It took us out of our game, out of our element. So that second half, we responded. They swung, we swung back. Once we had that momentum going with us -- playing in front of our fans got us energized. My girls just don’t want to go home just yet.”
JENKINS 47, JEFFERSON 38
JEFFERSON (38)
Emeri Billings 14, Dewitt 3, Brady 3, Robbins 9, Aldridge 3, Au. Johnson 2, Knight 4.
JENKINS (47)
Lee 8, Browner 8, Ke’Ara Jones 14, Scott 8, Young 9.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| JEFFERSON | 12 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 38 |
| HV JENKINS | 6 | 7 | 16 | 18 | 47 |
| RECORDS: Jefferson 22-6; Jenkins 19-8. | |||||
FINAL SCORES
BOYS
THURSDAY. February 20, 2025
SCISA AA Semi-finals
Andrew Jackson 72, Bethesda Academy 58
GHSA 1st Round
CLASS 3A
Calhoun 72, Jenkins 53
Friday, February 21, 2025
GIRLS
GIAA A ELITE EIGHT
Robert Toombs 46, Memorial Day 42
GIRLS
GHSA
SWEET SIXTEEN
CLASS 5A
Bradwell Institute 52, Lee County 42
CLASS 3A
Jenkins 47, Jefferson 38
CLASS A D-II
Macon County 50, Bryan County 47
CLASS 3A-1A PRIVATE
North Cobb Christian 57, Savannah Country Day 45
TODAY'S SCHEDULE
Saturday, February 22, 2025
BOYS & GIRLS DOUBLEHEADER
CLASS 3A-1A PRIVATE
GIRLS: Providence Christian (18-10) at Calvary Day (18-9) 1 p.m.
BOYS: St. Francis (18-10) at Calvary Day (19-7) 3 p.m.
GHSA BOYS
CLASS A D-I
Woodville-Tompkins (14-11) at Toombs County (16-11) 4 p.m.
CLASS 3A
Douglas (19-8) at Windsor Forest (23-5) 6 p.m.
CLASS A D-II
Bryan County (20-8) at Mt. Zion-Carrollton (20-8) 5 p.m.
Manchester (18-4) at #1 Savannah (23-4) 7 p.m.
GIAA AAA Elite Eight
@ Tattnall 4:30 p.m.
St. Andrew's (23-9) vs. Tiftarea (12-9) 4:30 p.m.
PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy luubie_shots
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