Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Lady Blue Jays Have Wings Clipped By Gurdon, 50-49

Nevada's senior girls ran into a buzz saw at Gurdon Friday night, falling 50-49.

The Lady Blue Jays were able to play with the Lady Devils for three quarters, but couldn't overcome Gurdon in the final eight minutes.

Gurdon opened the game in a zone and pressed the Lady Jays early. Scoring was sparse for both squads as the score was 2-2 with 5:41 showing.

The two teams had problems with control where the ball was concerned.

The pace of the game picked up a bit late in the first quarter as the two crews began to settle into their respective games. With 2:41 to go, the Lady Jays were up 9-6, but saw Gurdon score the next five points to end the period leading 11-9.

The Lady Devils were having to make adjustments as they had lost their inside power player to an ankle injury against Lewisville a week earlier.

The second period saw Gurdon work to deny the ball inside to the Lady Jay's big player, Ramona Evans.

On offense, the Lady Devils banked their hopes on LaVonda Young.

Nevada's full-court press bothered Gurdon, forcing the Lady Devils to turn the ball over.

By and large, the officials let both teams play and called relatively few fouls. While the two squads went up and down the court, neither showed it could score consistently.

Halftime arrived with the score knotted at 23-23.

Period three was another eight minute battle, with Nevada earning the short-lived win 9-8 in scoring for the frame.

But, pressure on both sides of the ball picked up as hands flashed everywhere. No matter what one team did, the other worked to counter the move.

As the game entered the fourth quarter, it was still up for grabs. Either team could win with a break of any kind. The break, however, didn't go to the Lady Jays.

While Nevada stepped up its full-court press, the Lady Devils responded. With 4:42 showing on the clock, Gurdon led 42-39.

Alexis Madison went down after tripping on a teammate's foot. This halted play for a while, with 3:49 showing on the game clock.

From there, Gurdon was able to control the game and keep the Lady Jays from victory.

Madison, though, led the Lady Jays with 16 points. Evans dropped in another 15 and Shiheta Henry netted 11.

Gurdon was led by Young's 16, with Jessica Rainey adding 11.

The Lady Jays were 14 of 19 from the charity stripe, with Gurdon connecting on 11 of 20 free throws.

GURDON 68

NEVADA 51

For a Gurdon game, the pace was normal all out. Nevada wasn't prepared for it as the Jays fell 68-51 Friday night.

While the game was played at roughly the speed of light, neither team scored much early on. At 5:03 in the first, Gurdon led 4-0, but managed to pull away to 12-0 at the 4:05 mark.

The Jays tried to slow the game down, but didn't have the capability against the league leading Devils.

Period one ended with the Jays on the short end of a 17-4 score.

Nevada scored the first four points of the second quarter, but this only irritated Gurdon as the Devils stiffened their defense and crashed the boards much in the manner of a demolition derby driver.

For a while, the question was how high would the body count be as both teams had players bouncing off the floor as they dove for the errant pumpkin.

Scoring was still at a premium, though, with the pressure exerted by the two teams affecting one another's shooting. With 3:26 showing, Nevada trailed 25-10.

The half ended with the Jays on the wrong end of a 33-12 score.

The third quarter picked up where the first two left off with the game being played at warp speed, staunch defensive pressure the entire length of the court and anyone thinking about shooting being harassed.

Eventually, Gurdon's depth became a factor. Nevada, playing with a short bench and temporary coach (Glyndon Franklin was out with health problems), couldn't sub as often and heavily as John Ware did for the Devils.

The third quarter ended with Gurdon up 54-25.

Courtney Mixon paced Nevada with 12 points, while teammate Julius Gulley added 11. Derrick Christopher contributed 10.

Eric Hatley led the Devils with 15, with Corey Marsh netting 11 and Terry Cornish stroking the nylon for 10.

The Jays were eight of 12 from the line, while Gurdon was eight of 18.

NEVADA 43

LEWISVILLE 35

Nevada made the trip to Lewisville, returning to Rosston with a win and plenty of bruises.

The win, a 43-35 final, was important as the season winds down and teams gear up for the district tourney.

The Lady Jays opened with a 16-5 first quarter lead, stretching this to a 24-11 lead at the break.

But Lewisville isn't the type of team to roll over and play dead. Instead, the Lady Red Devils tend to get more physical and play even more brutally under the boards.

This can be illustrated by the third quarter score of 29-23.

In fact, the game came down to Evans' ability at the free throw line in the fourth quarter as she drained four of eight to go with three buckets.

Evans was the only member of the team in double figures as she canned 16. Jackie House, Madison and Nekina Adair all scored eight.

N. Collins led Lewisville with 14, while C. Music added 10.

The Lady Jays didn't have a good night at the free throw line as they only converted 10 of 25 shots. Lewisville was a bit better, netting 16 of 28.

JR. LADY JAYS 25

JR. LADY DEVILS 48

The junior girls found the going more than a bit difficult against the Lady Devils as they fell 48-25.

At the end of one, Lewisville held a 13-8 lead, stretching it to a 33-15 halftime lead.

The Lady Jays were able to add 10 to their score in the third period, but trailed 41- 25. Nevada's biggest problem was a blank final period.

Jenifer Harding led Nevada with 11 points.

C. Henry was the game's leading scorer with 16. S. Turner found the hole for 10.

The Lady Jays were one of six from the line, while Lewisville was three of 13.

NEVADA 8

HOPE 26

In an eighth grade girls game, the Lady Jays found scoring all but impossible as they fell to the Lady Kittens of Hope 26-8.

Nevada's girls scored four in the first, but trailed 10-4 at the end of the period. Halftime saw the Lady Kittens with a 20-6 lead.

This was changed to a 22-6 advantage by the end of the third period as neither team showed much offensive spark.

Stephanie Williams, Keri Bajorek, LaToya Pearson and Trina Goodwin scored for Nevada.

Martin led all scorers with 12 for Hope.

The Lady Jays were 0-4 at the line, while Hope was two of seven.