There’s a first time for everything, and the Mae Jemison girls’ basketball team embraced that mantra to advance to their first state title game.
The fifth placed Jaguars came out hot and never cooled off today with a 76:37 win over runner-up Charles Henderson in a girls’ class 5A semi-final at the Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham.
Mae Jemison (22-8) announced his intentions early and took the lead 17-0 before the Trojans scored their first points with 3:37 in the first quarter. The Jaguars added two more buckets to end the period 22-3 ahead.
The Jaguars continued their dominant performance in the second half, keeping Charles Henderson goalless in the final five minutes of half with just 2:15. Jemison finished half-time with a 14-1 run and took a 42-9 lead.
Mae Jemison extended the lead with a 7-2 run to start the second half but struggled offensively with a 3:10 drought. The Trojans had their best offensive series with an 8-0 run at the end of the third quarter.
The Jaguars eventually slowed down in the fourth frame, but were just as efficient. They finished the game 14-4 while walking 9-10 off the field.
Charles Henderson, the reigning national champion, finished the race 18: 3.
Star of the game: Saniah Parker. The senior finished the game with 23 points, double-doubling in every role for the Jaguars, adding 10 rebounds, nine assists and six steals.
“It feels good and I wanted to play hard. I’ve been doing this for a while and don’t know anything else, ”she said.
Statistics: Mae Jemison – The Jaguars were 60 percent off the field, 42 percent out of the 3-point range and forced 24 turnovers, resulting in 36 points. Lesiah Rogers had 17 points, three rebounds and three assists and Mae Davis contributed 16 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Kennesha Waddle added eight points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals and Kesiah Rogers had seven points, five rebounds.
Charles Henderson – The Trojans shot a mere 20 percent overall, but won the relaxing fight by a plus-3 lead on the glass. Makayla Hobdy had a team high of 16 points, along with seven rebounds and four steals, and Kristian Jackson added 11 points, five rebounds and four steals. Deanna Gosha had seven points and a whopping 15 rebounds.
Did you know? Mae Jemison advances to the first championship game in the program’s first state tournament appearance.
Coachspeak: “The team played hard and executed the schedule we had for this game. Our pressure was great defensively and the intensity was high. Our offense and defense both played well today. “- Sherell Hobbs-Robertson from Mae Jemison
“You fought hard in the end and never gave up. That’s all I can ask of them. We had a good game plan but didn’t do it well in the first half. – Charles Henderson’s Dyneshia Jones
They said it: “We had good chemistry and the coach wanted us to play hard. So we did it. “- Parker
“We got so far that we had no choice but to come out strong.” – (Lesiah) Rogers
Next up? Mae Jemison will face either Marbury or fourth-placed Carver-Birmingham in the Class 5A championship game at 2pm on Thursday at the Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham.
