The Mineola Lady Jackets triumphed over the Ponder Lady Lions 48-44 in the UIL Area playoff round for Region II on Friday, Feb. 15 at Princeton. Mineola overcame several tactical challenges throughout the night, dominated the boards, and made play after play to retain the advantage over the Lady Lions.

The night started in fine form for the Lady Jackets as junior Cyndi Butler hit a three-pointer to open the scoring. The score was a set-piece play for an inbound in the offensive zone. The inbound pass went to Jessiah Riley then to Sabria Dean and on to Butler, who was spotted up.

No one expected that Butler’s score would be the only Mineola score until one minute left in the quarter when sophomore Jaiden Gardner hit a short baseline jumper. Solid defense by Ponder, seven Mineola turnovers, and Ponder’s ability to score off the break all contributed to the Lady Lions stretching their lead to 12-5 at the first quarter buzzer.

At the quarter break, the Lady Jackets discarded their concrete shoes and went to work. Ponder hit a short jumper on their first possession of the quarter, but it would be their only score of the second quarter.

The Mineola defense became energized, forcing five turnovers in the quarter and maintaining a two-to-one rebounding edge. Mineola junior Alyssa Cannon got the Jackets back on the board on an assist from Butler.

Down by nine points with 3:12 on the clock, the Lady Jackets needed momentum, so they turned to junior standout Sabria Dean. In sequential play, Dean hit a three-pointer, secured the ensuing defensive rebound, drilled another three-pointer and blocked a Ponder shot in the middle. A free throw by Butler and one by Cannon resulted in a one-point margin at the intermission, 16-15 Ponder.

The Lady Jackets took the lead on their opening possession of the second half when Riley scored on an offensive rebound put-back. Tiara Stephens then scored off a beautiful passing sequence: Dean to Meghan Brewington to Stephens. A Butler three-pointer made the score 22-16 Mineola and forced a Ponder time out.

Ponder came out of their time out and made a tactical decision to get the ball inside. They did and a seesaw battle ensued for the lead in the third quarter. Largely due to the efforts of junior post Kelley Akins, Ponder reclaimed the lead 28-27 with 1:35 left in the quarter. The sides exchanged three-pointers and went to the break 31-30, Ponder.

Twice in the game, Mineola had been at that point where they would normally have expected to open up a sizable lead. This, however, was second round of the regional tourney and Ponder was not going away.

The fourth quarter belonged to Dean. After a sloppy start to the final stanza by both teams, and trailing by four points, Dean executed an amazing look-off of her defender. She sold her defender on a pass to the wing and calmly sunk a jump shot from the key. A minute later she hit a three-pointer, which put the Lady Jackets back up 39-38.

With the score tied at 41 and 2:12 remaining, Dean was trapped at the wing in the offensive zone. She executed a rotation to free herself up and sunk a long contested three-pointer. It was a brilliantly athletic move. Ponder answered with a three-pointer to knot the score at 44.

In one of her best games as a Lady Jacket, it was Butler who hit the winning shot, a mid-range bank shot from the wing with 30 seconds to play. Dean hauled down the next defensive rebound, and Brewington scored on break, from a Riley assist, to ice the game 48-44.

It was a challenging, exhausting and excellent basketball game – a perfect tourney contest. The Lady Jackets took on the Howe Lady Bulldogs on Tuesday Feb. 19 in Princeton.

[follow their path through the playoffs]