Barton tops Lady Colts, 83-59

Barton tops Lady Colts, 83-59

By BRAYDEN PARNELL

Sports Connection Team

WILSON - The Lady Colts faced Barton in a non-conference game at Rivercrest on Thursday. Three starters finished in double figures for Rivercrest, as Destiny Burks scored 18 points, Ella Gonzalez notched 17, and Lakiya Speed chipped in with 12, but Barton’s duo of Jakyra Jackson and Da’Mya Wilson combined for 71 points in the Bears’ 83-59 win.

Barton landed the first couple of blows, gaining a 7-3 advantage after a few minutes played. The Lady Colts struggled to secure rebounds and gave up points in the paint, but the play of Destiny Burks provided enough scoring for her team to keep up. When Rivercrest ended a Barton possession with a rebound, Burks showed urgency, scoring a fastbreak layup and then delivering a pin-point outlet pass to Jalexia Young to pick up the assist. That knotted the score 16-16 after the tough start, but Barton added one at the line and a gut-punch right before the buzzer via Wilson’s mid-range jump-shot. She led the way with 12 points in the quarter, eclipsing Burks seven points and giving the Bears a 20-16 lead.

Rivercrest got a quick score when Burks rifled a pass inside to Gonzalez, but their struggles on the boards continued. Barton gained some momentum and a seven-point lead after a trip to the free throw line, obliging Coach Dye to call a timeout. The Lady Colts endured a rough stretch of possessions, turning the ball over and giving up fastbreak baskets as a result until Dye called another timeout 60 seconds later to try and stop the bleeding. With the score 33-18, the Bears applied continued pressure in the backcourt and stifled the Colts offense. Wilson took a backseat to Jackson, dishing her the ball after a Colts turnover for an easy layup. Jackson feasted on the extra opportunities, scoring 16 points in the quarter and helping her team to a 43-22 lead at halftime.

The Lady Colts looked reinvigorated in the second half. They protected the ball and got it inside, as their offense ramped up and they opened with a 10-0 run to get within 11 points. The run ended with a Barton deep ball, but the Colts remained robust, pushing the pace with buckets from Gonzalez and Young. But their improved offense could not match the scoring duo of Jackson and Wilson. Wilson rang up four shots from behind the arc and Jackson scored 11 points during this time. They accounted for all 23 of Barton’s third-quarter points and Barton held a 66-42 lead after three quarters.

Rivercrest couldn’t find another run, but competed hard in the fourth quarter. Speed scored a pair of baskets and got to the line twice. Burks hoisted up a fadeaway over two defenders, banking it in to delight the crowd. Barton allowed their stars to play out the fourth quarter. Jackson finished with a game-high 36 points, narrowly edging Wilson’s 35-point performance. They made their mark on the 24-point win. Coach Dye explained what he told his players to spark the early second-half run his team went on, “I let them know at halftime that we couldn’t have played a much worse first half. I told them we could either give up, let them put 100 points on us and make us look bad at home, or we could chip away and make it a contest.” He admitted, “I thought we fought harder, but we just couldn’t overcome the bad first half. We can’t get into bad stretches where we don’t take care of the ball. We’ve just got to move past this and on to our next game, especially since it’s a conference game.”

The Lady Colts’ record dropped to 13-8 with the loss, but their conference record remains 6-1, placing them in second place behind Manila. They’ll face an important stretch of home games coming against 3rd place Newport on Friday and then a chance to gain ground on Manila the following Monday.