FORT WORTH — The Cleburne Lady Jackets moved above .500 on Tuesday night with a 45-43 road victory over Crowley.
Cleburne (3-2) held on as the Lady Eagles missed an inside attempt at the final horn that would’ve sent the game into overtime.
Lady Jacket head coach Mitzi Marquart said Cleburne had to work diligently to maintain the advantage whenever it had it.
“We did a really good job coming down the stretch,” Marquart said. “We faced some situations there that we hadn’t gone through. I was pleased with how we held our composure.”
With the Lady Jackets at a disadvantage in the paint in terms of size, Cleburne switched to a zone defense to force the Lady Eagles back to the perimeter.
When Chelsea Stamp, who finished with 14 points on the night, started hitting from the outside, the Lady Jackets had to switch back to man-to-man coverage and battle the bigger Crowley posts down low.
“We had to compensate for their big size,” Marquart said. “We did a better job of it in the fourth quarter.”
Chandler essentially was the offense for Cleburne in the first half, and she finished with 24 points on the night with 18 of those coming from beyond the arc.
Marquart said the senior leader did her job well in the victory.
“She’s the leader of our ball club,” Marquart said. “She handles the ball and makes things happen. She directed traffic very well and did things down the stretch.
“She got it to people that needed it.”
The Lady Jackets’ defense limited Crowley to just seven first quarter points.
Such a figure was made possible by Cleburne’s shifting in schemes, Marquart said.
“We tried to keep them off-balance,” Marquart said. “It seemed like when we went to the zone, they hit from the outside.
“When we manned up against them, they would post us up.”
Winning a nail-biter on the road will pay dividends as the season goes on, Marquart said, especially with the younger players.
“I think this was a great experience for us,” Marquart said. “Not just for us to win this game, but I think we’ll have better composure [in the future].
“We’ll understand and make better decisions with this experience, and it will help without question.”
Megan Suess and Danielle Carey had big buckets down the stretch for Cleburne as the Lady Jackets broke a late 38-38 tie and took the lead for good.
Aley Zachary had two free throws with the score at 44-43, and after missing the first, she calmly sank the second to round out the scoring.
Jessie Richardson finished with two points and Zachary had three on the night.
Carey had eight, Chasity Ward had five and Suess finished with three in the victory.
The Lady Jackets will take on Stephenville at 6:30 p.m. Friday at home.
Sports
Lady Jackets hold off Crowley
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