Jackets lose home pair to Wildcats

Lexington High School has mastered North Augusta in varsity basketball this season and helped create some intense pressure for the Yellow Jackets in the season's final week in the scramble for playoff eligibility.

Friday evening on North Augusta's home court, the Lexington boys inflicted a 75-46 mugging on the Jackets, and Lexington's girls broke away in the fourth quarter for a 40-34 win.

North Augusta has three more dates on the regular-season calendar: Friday at South Aiken, Tuesday at Aiken and Thursday at home against Orangeburg-Wilkinson.

This week's schedule was also to have included home action Tuesday against White Knoll.

Jared Adamson, North Augusta's girls' coach, saw his squad slip to 14-5 overall and 3-3 in Region 5-AAAA by way of the loss against Lexington.

"It was a lack of execution," he said. "Lexington did a good job of making us play their style - slow it down."

The Yellow Jackets struggled mightily on offense, particularly in half-court sets. If it weren't for their own shutdown effort on defense, the game could have been a blowout.

Adamson's squad, however, was particularly tough on defense and used pressure to generate most of its scoring off turnovers. The aggressive approach had its drawbacks, as well. The Lady Jackets were whistled for several fouls, sending the Wildcats to the free-throw line 28 times. Although they only made 14 of those attempts, that was nearly twice as many tries as North Augusta had at the charity stripe, finishing 3-of-8.

"We fouled too much and gave up too many free throws," Adamson said of the game but could have been talking about the game-changing 9-0 run, where Lexington scored seven of the points at the foul line. "We couldn't get in rhythm. We just don't execute against Lexington."

Jasmine Coach was the only North Augusta player to score in double digits, finishing with 12 points, while Jurell Coach added eight. Lexington's Janai Pinckney led all scorers with 15 points, and her teammate Allison Kay finished with 10.

In the boys' contest, the third quarter was a killer for the Jackets, as the Wildcats scored 24 points and blew open a competitive game.

Fueled by a defense played by long and athletic players, Lexington forced North Augusta (11-8, 2-4) into one turnover after another in the third quarter.

"It happened so fast, I don't know exactly what happened," Yellow Jackets head coach Al Young said of the Wildcats' third-quarter blitz. "We turned the ball over and committed too many fouls. They shot the ball well, and we fell apart."

Shaq Roland hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second half and finished with a game-best 17 points. Sam McDermott and Jalen Cook both added 12 points, while Joby Glymph posted nine for Lexington, which outscored North Augusta 44-23 in the second half.

"They've got guys who can dribble, penetrate and then kick out. In the second half, they knocked down some big 3s," Young said of the game which got out of hand because of the Wildcats' defense as much as their scoring ability. "You can't underestimate that and have to give them credit. But we should have run our half-court offense better. At times we were too patient and didn't get the ball in the right spot. But they're a seasoned ballclub, and we've got some inexperience. That showed up tonight."

When the Yellow Jackets were able to find an opening or break a defender down off the dribble, the Wildcats were quick to recover. Their length, speed and athleticism masked any initial mistakes. That ability caused North Augusta to misfire on shots and passes.

Jashawn Brooks was the only Yellow Jacket to score in double figures, finishing with 11 points.

"We'll go back in the gym and keep working," Young said. "We need to come up with a game plan and win. If we find a way to win, that will help our confidence."