Slow start dooms Bay High girls in 4A semifinals

JACKSON -- The Bay High girls basketball team unfortunately saved one of its worst halves of the season for the Class 4A state semifinals.

Florence (25-4) topped Bay High, 62-51, Monday to advance to the 4A state title contest against Quitman at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Mississippi Coliseum.

Danyelle Lewis was the star of the game, scoring 29 points and grabbing seven rebounds to lead Florence to the win.

"She's been lights out the last three games," Florence coach Darrin Chancellor said. "She's been shooting really well and handling the ball well. She's playing really well at the right time."

While Florence played some of its best basketball Monday, the Bay High girls struggled, shooting the ball badly in the first half.

The Lady Tigers (24-7) shot just 19.2 percent from the field in the first half, making just 5 of 26 shots from the field.

"We dug a hole too deep to get out of," Bay High coach Debbie Triplett said.

Florence led 17-6 after one quarter and 34-17 at halftime.

On 3-point shots, Bay High hit just 1 of 14 tries in the first half.

"They took a lot of outside shots and they weren't making them," said Chancellor, a former USM basketball star. "We were in the same defense in the second half and (Bay High) started making them. They closed the lead, but we kept playing tough. They missed a few and we were just lucky to get the rebounds."

Bay High started the second half on a 7-0 run and put together a much better effort in the final 16 minutes, shooting 40.7 percent from the field..

Bay High twice cut the deficit to six points as the third quarter came to a close and early in the fourth quarter.

Jamaya Galloway hit a jumper with 1:55 remaining to cut the Florence lead to 57-50, but Florence answered with a 4-0 run to close out the contest.

Bay High also battled through foul trouble through much of the game, committing 23 fouls total.

Bay High senior forward Simone Jackson, a Delta State signee, was limited on defense late in the game as she played with four fouls.

Jackson finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, but didn't have much touches early in the game with the Lady Tigers struggling to get the ball in the post.

Galloway, a junior point guard, led Bay High with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Jada Payton was the top post player for Florence with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Lewis was the player that gave Bay High the most trouble, hitting 10 of 18 attempts from the field and 8 of 8 at the free throw line.

"We did a poor job of defending her the whole night," Triplett said. "I don't know what was wrong with them to shoot as badly as we did."

This story was originally published March 7, 2016 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Slow start dooms Bay High girls in 4A semifinals ."