Mineola’s Lady ‘Jackets dropped their first district game of the season to the Lady Bulldogs 45-40 on Friday in Edgewood.

Mineola guards Meghan Brewington and Sabria Dean committed two fouls each early. Foul trouble plagued the Lady Jackets all night. Brewington would eventually foul out, as would Tahjae Black and Jessiah Riley.

“We were in foul trouble all night and missed way too many open shots,” reflected Mineola coach Brad Gibson. “You can’t beat a good Edgewood team on the road when those things happen.”

With ten seconds left in the first, Mineola got a stop, the ball, a shot and the lead, with Dean hitting a long two-point for a 10-8 margin.

Tiara Stephens took over the defensive boards to start the second quarter. One rebound resulted in a fast break assist cross court, Dean passing to Tahjae Black.

Edgewood was in the bonus with 6:25 in the half, sending them to the charity stripe on every Mineola foul until halftime.

Shooting almost 40 free throws compared to Mineola’s 12 was a key factor, as half of Edgewood’s points came from the line.

Dean started crashing the defensive boards and was seeing the deep outlet, but it wasn’t resulting in points.

The Bulldogs held a 18–16 edge at the half.

Dean came out firing in the third quarter, making a baseline jumper to tie it at 18 each. The next time down she was fouled on a jumper. Dean took on an isolated defender for another baseline jumper. She drew the Bulldog defense and dished to Cyndi Butler, who hit a three-pointer.

Dean scored 14 of her 25-point total in the third, including two three-point shots.

Edgewood’s press soon came alive though, forcing a turnover, then making Mineola take about 9 seconds to get across half court two possessions in a row.

The free throw line continued to be profitable for the Lady Bulldogs, keeping them in touch despite Dean’s explosion on offense. The Lady Jackets led 35–32 after three.

Edgewood went into the double bonus with 3:58 remaining in regulation, when Mineola still held a 37–35 lead.

The Lady Bulldogs scored the next six points.

On an inbound play, the ball swung from Butler to Dean, who buried a three to pull back within one, down 41–40 with 1:15 remaining.

With Edgewood starting to stall, Meghan Brewington fouled just inside a minute, giving the Lady Bulldogs two free points.

The Lady Jackets were unable to score, couldn’t get a foul call, and the Lady Bulldogs got a loose ball and called timeout.

Edgewood burned up half a minute before being fouled and missing two free throws. The Lady Jackets secured the rebound, got down court and Dean had a tough look at a three-pointer to tie the game that fell just short.

Two more Edgewood free throws would account for the five-point Lady ‘Jacket loss.