Panthers Escape Hornets Sting

 

 

I saw Huntsville early in the season and was impressed with their athleticism and quickness. Having Ronisha Major on the team was icing on the cake, Major of course is a Top 100 ranked player on just about every scouting service around and will be headed to play at the University of Texas. Seeing a 4A team playing that well against 5A teams that have made the playoffs in this area let me know they were ahead of the pack and I had them pegged as one of the early favorites.

 

I hadn’t seen Beaumont Ozen, however I remembered some of the players when they were freshmen, Ashton Massey and Alexia Thomas, however when I found out Nekia Jones was playing on this team, I thought to myself “oh my”.

 

 

 

II saw Jones play in the summer and the lasting impression of this kid doing what she could do at her size is a memory that is locked forever. Both teams were involved in tough semifinal match ups, just like 5A and this game started out sluggish, also like 5A. Jones scored 13 points in the second as she and Thomas combined for 21 of Ozen’s 32 points as they led by 8 at halftime.

Huntsville’s Ceidra Coleman was on fire half of the Lady Hornets 24. Down by 4 going into the last quarter, Major got hot and before you know it, 51 all. Jones dropped an NBA three, however Major answered with two free throws. Then an Aliyah Houston bucket gave the Lady Hornets their first lead, then she added two free throws and it appeared the Panthers would pull it out , but they couldn’t hold on.

 A lay-up by Asia Booker and two free throws by Sanquia Rawls gave Ozen a trip to Austin, 58-57. Coleman led Huntsville with 17 points, while Major and Maya Perry added 12. Jones led all scorers with 21,followed by Thomas and Booker with 14 and 11 respectively.