Bay High, West Harrison represent Coast well in state quarterfinals
The first two girls basketball teams from the Coast to take the court in quarterfinal action this week put in impressive performances in Jackson.
For Bay High, a 60-38 win over Corinth was a balanced effort that appeared to show that the Lady Tigers are peaking at the right time.
West Harrison's 49-43 victory over Ridgeland wasn't quite as dominant, but the Lady Hurricanes showed they could again rely on senior forward Ameshya Williams to lead the way.
Bay High (24-6) will play Florence (23-4) at noon on Monday in the Class 4A semifinals and West Harrison will play Hattiesburg (25-4) at noon on Tuesday in the Class 5A semifinals.
West Harrison (24-2) proved it could win a tight contest in Jackson after being upset 64-62 by Pearl in the quarterfinals last season.
The difference came at the free throw line. After hitting just 28.6 percent of their attempts in the loss to Pearl last year, the Lady Hurricanes hit 17-of-27 Friday night against Ridgeland.
In a game where neither team shot the ball all that well, the 6-foot-3 Williams was her usual dominant self. She finished with 27 points and 13 rebounds.
Hattiesburg, which beat Oxford 49-42 Friday, will be a difficult opponent for West Harrison on Tuesday. All four of Hattiesburg's losses came against tough competition on the road.
The Bay High girls looked like a team fully capable of winning a state championship in their win over Corinth.
Last year, it was mostly on point guard Jamaya Galloway to come through with the big baskets in Jackson as the Lady Tigers squeaked by New Albany and Quitman before losing 50-35 to Raymond in the state title game.
As a junior this season, Galloway is just one important piece to the puzzle for Bay High coach Debbie Triplett.
Senior forward Simone Jackson, who has signed with Delta State, was impressive in Thursday's contest with 14 points and nine rebounds. She showed that she can run the court better than most post players and she has much more confidence compared to this time last year in Jackson.
Amari Pittman and Danielle Vince, both juniors, combined for 17 points and filled important roles for Bay High Thursday.
What gives even more reason to believe in Bay High as a state championship contender is the play of two freshmen - guard Breanna Fountain and forward Dasha Barnes.
Fountain seemed unfazed by the importance of Thursday's game against Corinth, hitting the first two baskets of the game for the Lady Tigers on the way to an eight-point night.
The 5-foot-9 Barnes got in foul trouble Thursday, but she's a starter in the frontcourt who can take the pressure off Jackson.
While Triplett has more players contributing this season, it's a fair bet that Galloway will have the ball in her hands with the game on the line.
She again showed her knack for the dramatic when she took an inbound pass with 1 second remaining in the third quarter and quickly nailed a jumper as the buzzer sounded.
A good Florence team stands in the way of Bay High in the semifinals, but Triplett always seems to have her girls prepared for any task.
Contact Patrick Magee at pmagee@sunherald.com and follow him at CoastCoverage on Twitter.
This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 12:14 PM with the headline "Bay High, West Harrison represent Coast well in state quarterfinals ."