Ninth Ave. nailbiter: Ford’s buzzer-beating layup gets job done for Lady Titans
Published 6:53 pm Saturday, January 2, 2016
- Memorial senior Jakeira Ford throws a bounce pass as Channelview’s Arianna Taylor (32) and Deidre Dobbins defend Saturday afternoon. (Gabriel Pruett/The News)
Jakeira Ford and the Port Arthur Memorial Lady Titans needed one more shot to beat Channelview Saturday.
The Lady Titans had just given up the lead with 10 seconds left when Memorial coach Kevin Henry called a timeout.
He drew up a play that sent Ford streaking down the court.
Ford caught the pass in stride and sank the layup to give the Lady Titans a 53-52 District 21-6A win over the Lady Falcons. It was a key win because now both Channelview and Memorial are 2-1 in the league standings (Memorial 12-8 overall).
Ford finished with a team-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. She was 8-of-17 shooting.
“It wasn’t really a play,” Ford said of her buzzer-beater. “Coach [Henry] has a good mind. It was a chance for me to dunk it, but I thought better and laid it up.”
Arianna Taylor for Channelview hit a shot with 10 seconds to put the Lady Falcons ahead 52-51.
It would be the last shot Channelview would take in the game. The Lady Falcons turned the ball over to Ford after she made the game-winning shot.
“That was our first option, to have someone go deep,” Henry said. “Nobody was deep, so we took it. It feels great to execute a play we drew up. For us to execute at the end was great.”
Taylor scored a game-high 22 points on 10-of-25 shooting.
Shooting was not all that great for either team. Channelview shot 28 percent on Saturday. The Lady Falcons were 19-of-68 from the field and also turned the ball over 13 times. Channelview outrebounded Memorial 45-41.
The Lady Falcons were 6-of-18 from behind the three-point line.
Memorial shot 44 percent for the game. The Lady Titans were 21 of 48 from the field, including 6 for 18 from behind the arc.
Victoria Brown added nine points for the Lady Titans while teammates Autumn Jones and Channel Babineaux each scored eight points. Jones pulled down eight boards.
Kianna Hall scored 10 points for the Lady Falcons.
Channelview hung around in the game because of pulling down 29 offensive rebounds.
Memorial led 15-11 after the first period and 33-32 at the break. The Lady Titans took a 41-40 advantage into the game’s final eight minutes.
The Lady Titans next game is at Deer Park on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
About Gabriel Pruett
Gabriel Pruett has worked with both the Port Arthur News and Orange Leader since 2000. A majority of the time has been spent covering all aspects of Southeast Texas high school sports. Pruett's claim to fame is...being able to write his own biographical information for this website.
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