Jacksonville Fl- The Gateway Conference Championship Game for Girls Basketball featured two former champions in Jackson and Sandalwood. Sandalwood last won in 2018-2019 and Jackson last won in 2009-2010. This matchup also featured some of the best post players in the area. Sandalwood has junior Jada Jones and Jackson has senior Irene Kabassubabo and junior Xaniya Jackson. Jada is averaging a double-double in points and rebounds, so Jackson went with a two post lineup to start the game.
Jackson opens scoring with 3 for Jazmine Jackson. Sandalwood gets on the board with a 3 of their own from Kayla Johnson. Turnovers were hurting Sandalwood early as Jackson applied immense pressure on defense which forced and early timeout from Sandalwood with Jackson up 7-3. Sandalwood continued to struggle in the first quarter and Jackson was able to push the lead to 15-6 with a balanced scoring attack on offense which forced another Sandalwood timeout at the 1:11 mark in the first quarter. The quarter end with Jackson up 15-8.
The second quarter was a low-scoring, defensive battle with both teams struggling to score because of turnovers. Sandalwood broke the drought with a 3-pointer from C. Dacosta which would prove to be their only points scored in the quarter. Jackson also struggled scoring as they didn’t get their first basket until the 4:41 mark and would only score 5 total points to go into halftime with a 20-11 lead. Leading scorers in the first half were Indreana Bargeron from Jackson with 6 points and Kayla Johnson from Sandalwood with 8 points. Jada was held scoreless in first half as Jackson employed a two-post lineup, with Xaniya as the primary defender for most of the half.
Bargeron, known primarily as a defender, continues her hot scoring night and gets the scoring started for Jackson in the second half with and an-1. This would spark and 8-0 run for Jackson as Sandalwood struggled to break their press. They would not score their first basket until the two-minute mark in the third quarter. Jackson continued to increase their lead and looked smooth on offense matching their scoring output from the first half in the third quarter. Overall, they used a 20-7 run to go into the fourth quarter up 40-18.
Sandalwood would put up a good fight in the end as they outscored Jackson in the fourth quarter, but they still struggled to score as they did much of the game. This was most likely due to leading scorer Jada Jones not getting her first and only basket until the 4:35 mark in the fourth quarter. Although, Sandalwood outscored Jackson in the fourth, the lead would prove to be insurmountable. Jackson earns their first Gateway Conference Championship in Girls Basketball since the 2009-2010 season. Leading scores for Jackson were Jazmine Jackson with 11 points, Indreana Bargeron and Alexis Taliferro both with 9 points each. Leading scorer for Sandalwood was Kayla Johnson with 13 points.
