Southside-Kernan Middle’s Jada Jones stands at over six feet tall in the 8th grade, which literally puts her heads and shoulders over her competition. Jones and her Kernan basketball team dominated their semifinal opponent Jefferson Davis on Monday. The talented Center knocked down 28 points of her team’s 40 points for the home team, as the Ospreys soared over the Lady Chargers.
From the tip-off Kernan’s goal was to feed the post and get the ball to Jones. Jefferson Davis knew this would be the game plan and decided to go to a 2-3 zone to be able to have backside and front-side coverage of Jones.
In theory, this is the best technique when you have a commanding post player like Jones, but this proved ineffective against her to start. Kernan guards did a great job with entry passes into the post. Jones scored all of her teams first quarter points and all but two of her first half points at 17.
The second half saw Jeff Davis make adjustments to get Jones out of the game by driving the ball to the basket trying to get her in foul trouble. They were able to score two quick baskets but then Jones took back over.
This time, Jones would excel on the defensive end with a few blocks and some steals. Kernan went up big in this half and never looked back. Jeff Davis was led by Jamila Henderson with 13 points and Kernan’s next highest scorer was Gabby Fajando with 9 points.
Kernan is excited about their rematch against Highlands, a team that they lost to in the City of Jacksonville preseason tournament in the beginning of January. They will get their chance at redemption on Wednesday at 5:30pm at Andrew Jackson High School for the Girls Middle School Championship.
