The Winnsboro Lady Raiders ended the Mineola Lady Jackets’ season with a 69-37 win in the regional quarterfinal game Monday at the Patriot Center in Tyler.

Winnsboro combined eight first-half 3-pointers with 13 first-half Mineola turnovers to take a 12-point lead after one quarter and a 20-point lead at the half. The one-sided play moderated some in the second half, yet Winnsboro still outscored Mineola by 5 in the third quarter and 7 points in the final quarter.

The Lady Raiders used both scheme and aptitude to defeat the Lady Jackets. They spent most of the first half with four players setting up on the 3-point arc and a fifth at the low post.

This offensive scheme then flexed Mineola’s man-to-man defense until one of the shooters became uncovered. Once Mineola began to press the 3-point line, it opened up acres of space in which to drive the basket. 

Winnsboro also pressed for all but the last few minutes of the game. What made the Lady Raider press so effective was the anticipation exhibited in its execution. The Lady Raiders knew the techniques teams (including Mineola) use to break the press, and they are practiced at exploiting those techniques.

The Lady Jackets managed eight 3-pointers for the whole game. Those scores came from Mahayla McMahon, Jayla Jackson, Kyra Jackson, Jaeyla Dennis and Kaitlyn McMahon. No Lady Jacket scored in double figures, as the Winnsboro defense adeptly collapsed onto the ball handler whenever Mineola had the ball.

The game was well-officiated, and the action was closely called and cleanly-played. A lengthy late-game delay featured a heated discussion between an official and the Winnsboro head coach regarding the status of a jersey as being either tucked-in or not tucked-in. The exhibit detracted from an otherwise smartly-played game.

Coach Anthony McQuary and his Lady Jackets finished the season with a 9-3 district record, a 21-15 record overall and an area championship.