NEW ALBANY — Jennings County stood its ground in the first half against heavily-favored Bedford North Lawrence in the girls basketball New Albany Sectional championship on Monday.
The Panthers probably wished the Stars didn’t come out in the second half.
Bedford turned up the intensity and once the Stars, got going, they were hard to stop. They led by only two at halftime, but outscored Jennings 20-2 in the third quarter and went on to post a 56-34 victory for their eighth consecutive sectional title.
“They fought, and obviously, we knocked down our shots in the first half,” Jennings coach Kristi Sigler said. “Bedford then picked up their pressure, and they do what they do like in the third quarter. They can turn games around very quickly.”
The Panthers (16-9) got off to a hot start with a 3-point basket and a layin from Addyson Kent. Kylee Matern then hit a 3-pointer to give them an 8-4 lead. The Stars (22-5) came back to score seven unanswered points to lead 11-8 after the first quarter.
Kent hit a 3 to tie the game at 11-11 and also hit two more 3s later in the second quarter. Whenever Kent hit from long range, Bedford was able to counter with a 3-pointer of its own.
Kent hit her fourth 3-pointer of the second quarter to give the Panthers a 20-19 lead. The Stars recovered to lead 24-22 at halftime.
Kent scored 17 of Jennings’ 22 first-half points. The sophomore ended up with a game-high 20 points.
“Bedford came out in their zone, and we became heavily reliant on Addyson,” Sigler said. “She was knocking down shots and had a really solid first half.”
The Stars then came out of the gate scoring 18 straight points to start the third quarter.
Callie Wilder, one of five seniors, added seven points for the Panthers. The other seniors are Matern, Madi Skinner, Alana Daeger and Tyla Roberts.
“The seniors were wonderful for our program and every year, it is sad to see the seniors go,” Sigler said. “What you can say about this group of five is that they saw two sectional championship (games), and they really helped turn things around.”
Jennings still has a lot of good pieces, including Kent, coming back for next year.
“It’s going to be about how hard our kids are going to work between now and October,” Sigler said.
