Late surge lifts Jasper by Lady Mustangs in OT
Published 8:31 pm Tuesday, November 20, 2018
WEST ORANGE – Faulty free-throw shooting and too many late turnovers were simply too much for the West Orange-Stark Lady Mustangs to overcome as they watched Jasper rally back from a late double-digit deficit as the Lady Bulldogs escaped Mustang Gym with a 41-38 overtime non-district victory Tuesday night.
The Lady Mustangs led 33-21 at the end of the third quarter but the Lady Bulldogs rallied with a flurry as they finished out the game with a 20-5 run.
Free-throws certainly hampered the Lady Mustangs throughout the night as they went a woeful 4-of-21. Meanwhile, the Lady Bulldogs drilled 16 of their 26 charity shots.
The Lady Mustangs, who played excellent on the defensive end all night, had 36 turnovers but coughed the ball up to Jasper 18 times in the fourth quarter and overtime session.
WO-S also ran into foul trouble late as top scorers Alissa Brown, Diamond Judge and Gabby Tims fouled out.
The Jasper win offset a superb Lady Mustang defensive charge as WO-S forced the Lady Bulldogs into 38 turnovers.
Brown led the Lady Mustangs with a double-double, tallying 12 points while snagging 11 rebounds. Marlandria Hebert had nine points and eight boards for WO-S. Juege had six points and five rebounds while Tims added five boards.
Asia Mitchell paced the Lady Bulldogs with 13 points and five rebounds before fouling out. Bray Watson had a double-double, tallying 10 points and ripping down 10 boards. Jakayla Brown, who was 5-of-6 from the free-throw line and who drained all four of her foul shots in the fourth period and overtime, had nine points and six rebounds.
The Lady Mustangs led 20-19 at the half and extended it to 33-23 by the end of the third period after holding Jasper to just one field goal in the quarter.
After that, Jasper simply took over with their pressure defense, forcing WO-S into 13 turnovers alone in the fourth quarter. A Watson free-throw was able to tie things up at 36-36 with 0:21 in regulation that ended up forcing the extra session.
The Lady Mustangs finished with a 39-32 rebounding edge.
The Lady Mustangs will be back at home again next Tuesday when they play host to the Evadale Lady Rebels with a 6 p.m. varsity start.