Oxford girls clutch at the free throw line down the stretch, snap six-game regional losing streak, win first regional game since 1996
By Al Muskewitz
JACKSONVILLE — The Oxford girls basketball team has been all about respect over rankings, especially since the final poll came out at the end of the regular season and they weren’t in it. They gained a lot of respect Thursday afternoon.
The Lady Jackets snapped a six-game regional losing streak with a 60-47 win over Mountain Brook in the Class 6A Northeast Regional. They will play Chelsea at 12:30 p.m. Monday for their first trip to the Final Four under the current tournament format.
Chelsea was the team that put them out last year.
Oxford’s last win the Northeast Regional was in the 1996 regional semifinals.
“It means a lot,” senior guard Leah Taylor said. “Growing up around Oxford we didn’t have any basketball goals, really; for girls it’s not common to be out shooting. So, this means a lot to lay the foundation to keep it going so we can make that a tradition here.”
“We’re just pushing for the respect,” added senior forward Lauren Ellard. “We want to get some respect that everyone else gets and what the boys get because we have to work twice as hard as them.”
Xai Whitfield led the Lady Jackets (25-4) with 17 points. Kaleah Taylor had 15 and LaMya McGrue had 10. Ellard had nine points, but her four-point play with 5:19 to play tied the game at 40 and started the Lady Jackets on a 14-2 run that gave them final control.
The Lady Jackets sealed the deal by going 13-of-15 on free throws in the fourth quarter, 12-of-14 in the last 2:12.Four different players hit them.
“We’ve been pretty good foul shooters, especially late in games,” Bennett said. “Late we’ve been pretty clutch.”
The Lady Jackets led most of the game. Mountain Brook staged its first threat midway through the second quarter, drawing within 2, but the Lady Spartans then missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer and Oxford scored the next seven points and carried a 22-15 lead into halftime.
“An Achilles’ heel of ours has been a slow start, but today (we brought it for) 32 minutes,” Bennett said. “Our girls never gave up.”
Mountain Brook took its first lead at 32-31 with 1:00 left in the third quarter. It used a 7-0 run early in the fourth quarter to take a 40-36 lead before Ellard’s four-point play turned the tide.
“The 3 before that I was really deep,” Ellard said. “Everybody was telling me to focus on my shot, don’t rush it. Hitting it kind of sparked some energy in the gym because before that we really didn’t have much energy and then topping it off with the free throw it just added to the energy of the team.”
The Oxford girls’ last win the Northeast Regional was a 63-46 triumph over Scottsboro and all the losses that knocked them out except one were by double digits. Before last year’s appearance against Chelsea, they hadn’t been to the regional since 2002.
“All the credit goes to these young ladies,” Bennett said. “It’s not easy and they can tell you I’m a turd in practice because it takes that extra. I think our season really prepared us for them. We’ve had a lot of close battles where we had to finish like this and several of those have been we were down in the fourth quarter and had to finish just like this.
“I’m so proud of them. They’ve laid the foundation. We can kind of use the respect over rankings saying as a motivator, but it goes to what they have done, how they have bought in and how they’ve busted their tails.
“They have completed changed Oxford girls basketball from their freshman year winning 5 or 6 games to 25-4, going to the Elite 8. I can’t say enough positive things about our seniors. I’m just super proud for them because their names will be always attached to this.”
CLASS 6A NORTHEAST REGIONAL
Girls Semifinals
Oxford 60, Mountain Brook 47
OXFORD (25-4) – Justice Woods 2-9 0-0 4, Xai Whitfield 6-11 4-5 17, Lauren Ellard 3-7 2-3 9, LaMya McGrue 4-6 2-2 10, Kaleah Taylor 4-10 7-10 15, JaMae Gaston 0-3 0-0 0, Keziah Mickler 1-1 3-5 5, Shaniya Calloway 0-0 0-0 0, Kaylen Kenney 0-4 0-0 0, Mikiya Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-51 18-25 61.
MOUNTAIN BROOK (26-8) – Francie Morris 8-10 0-1 16, Emily Straughn 0-0 4-7 4, Emma Stearns 1-6 4-6 7, Sarah Passink 2-9 3-4 7, Mary Jane Lassiter 4-6 0-0 8, Margaret Pelekis 0-0 0-0 0, Bentley Brewer 0-0 0-0 0, Kate Cotton 0-0 0-1 0, Libby Geisler 2-6 1-2 5. Totals 17-37 12-21 47.
Oxford 15 7 10 28 – 60
Mountain Brook 8 7 17 15 – 47
3-point goals: Oxford 2-13 (Woods 0-3, Whitfield 1-3, Ellard 1-3, Taylor 0-2, Gaston 0-2); Mountain Brook 1-10 (Morris 0-1, Stearns 1-4, Passink 0-2, Geisler 0-3). Rebounds: Oxford 21 (Gaston 4); Mountain Brook 40 (Straughn 7, Morris 6, Lassiter 6). Fouled out: Morris. Total fouls: Oxford 20, Mountain Brook. Officials: Taylor, Gregg, Baer. [*** read more]
