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JACKSON — In a matchup of two teams coming into Wednesday night’s game with identical 18-2 records, Jackson got out to a torrid start and never looked back.
That hot start, combined with a significant rebounding advantage and a high-quality shooting percentage, the Ironladies (19-2) handed state-ranked Unioto a 59-46 loss.
All year long, Jackson has felt underrated and overlooked in a crowded Division II district tournament field. Wednesday’s win showed everyone that they’re a legitimate force to be reckoned with.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
“Unioto is a good team,” Jackson senior Mattie Walburn said. “We knew this was an important game, especially leading into the tournament. We wanted to make a statement. We wanted to prove that we belong here, where we are. We’re kind of tired of being underestimated. This was a big confidence boost for us.”
Sydney Carpenter started the scoring with a triple from the corner for the Ironladies, before a TJ Carpenter layup, a Kenzie Davis trey and six quick points from Walburn. That gave Jackson a 14-3 lead in the early minutes.
Carpenter’s game-opening 3 wasn’t out of the ordinary — she’s always had the ability to score when needed. However, it was a surprise, considering her role on this year’s team has been centered around the defensive end.
Needless to say, it was a welcome pace setter to what became a dominant win.
“[Sydney] was huge for us,” senior TJ Carpenter, Sydney’s sister, said. “Obviously, her main role is on the defensive end. But if she can go out and get us six or eight points, it helps us a ton. She wasn’t feeling the best coming into tonight, so this was her flu game. But she was our spark plug at the beginning. Her hitting those two 3’s got her in a good mindset. When she gets excited, it builds all of us up.”
Unioto, somewhat, responded behind Jade Stewart and Abbie Marshall off the bench. But another triple from Sydney Carpenter and a put back at the buzzer from Davis gave the Ironladies a 21-10 lead after the first quarter.
The duo of Sydney Carpenter and Sydney Hughes were deployed to slow down Unioto’s Milee Smith and Amaris Betts. Carpenter and Hughes accomplished that goal, holding the dynamic duo to just six points in the opening half.
“We knew that if we came out and got in a hole, we were going to struggle,” TJ Carpenter said. “We wanted to know where Amaris and Milee were at all times. They’re obviously great players. So I think that was the big thing, and just staying composed in a game of runs. They took our punches and we took theirs. But I think we played really well throughout the entire game.”
The Shermans (18-3) made a slight push late in the half with a 7-0 run, topped with a 3 from Magnolia Holbert to cut the Ironladies’ lead to six.
However, Walburn found TJ Carpenter for a buzzer-beating 3, giving Jackson a 31-22 lead at the break and returning momentum to their bench.
“That was a big shot,” Walburn said. “That put us up nine [points] instead of six. I got stuck in the corner and I saw TJ, so I just threw it. She’s great. Clutch, for sure.”
Holbert did all she could in the second half to keep the Shermans in the game, scoring 13 points, but the Tanks were never able to cut the lead to below six points.
Jackson dominated the glass on both ends.
Either the Ironladies were crashing the offensive end until they scored, or they were holding the Shermans to just one shot.
In total, the Ironladies out-rebounded Unioto by a 38-25 tally.
“Our rebounding tonight was awesome. We had each other’s backs and we were tipping it to each other the whole entire night,” Davis said. “If one of us didn’t have it, the other did. That was awesome.”
In the fourth, the Ironladies built their lead to as large as 18 with TJ Carpenter, Davis and Walburn seemingly scoring at will. All three scored over 14 points on the night.
Hughes and Sydney Carpenter were able to outscore the duo of Betts and Smith by a 12-11 margin — which is over 20 points below Betts and Smith’s combined season average.
Statistically, Walburn led Jackson with 18 points while Davis had 14 points and 12 rebounds. TJ Carpenter notched 15 points and 12 rebounds and Sydney Carpenter added 10 points as well.
Unioto was led by Holbert, whose 18 points were a season-high.
Both teams have just one regular season game left before they turn their attention towards the postseason.
The Shermans will travel to Southeastern on Friday while Jackson goes to Vinton County, looking to continue to build confidence, on Saturday.
“We can definitely work on a few fundamental things,” Davis said. “There’s always little things that you can work on. Communication is one, and we can always improve on the defensive end, and just work with each other while getting into a flow on offense as well.”
BOX SCORE
Unioto: 8-14-12-12 — 46
Jackson: 21-10-11-17 — 59
Unioto: 18-56 FG, 8-12 FT, 6-24 3pt. Scoring: Holbert 18, Smith 8, Stewart 6, Danison 4, Marshall 3, Betts 3, Uhrig 2, Walker 2.
Jackson: 19-46 FG, 16-22 FT, 5-10 3pt. Scoring: Walburn 18, T. Carpenter 15, Davis 14, S. Carpenter 10, Hughes 2.
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