Mission accomplished.
The Pillow Academy Lady Mustangs avenged their only loss of the season - using stifling defensive pressure, depth and balanced scoring to defeat Jackson Academy 42-30 Tuesday night in front of a packed house at Pillow.
The Lady Mustangs lost 42-39 to JA on Jan. 8, but they made it clear early that was not going to happen again.
"Our girls were really disappointed after that loss and were determined to make amends," said Pillow coach Durwin Carpenter. "Our defensive pressure was a big key for us in the second half.
"They seemed to get a little tired, and we became more relaxed and played smoother."
Pillow (29-1), ranked No. 1 in the statewide academy AAA poll, led 24-12 at the half, but the Lady Raiders cut the lead to six late in the third period. The Lady Mustangs, however, got a layup from sophomore Lauren Coleman to push the lead to 29-21 heading into the fourth.
JA got back into the game in the third by stalling on the offensive end, holding the ball for nearly four straight minutes before taking a shot.
"JA is a very patient team, but we did a great job of getting and staying in the right defensive positions," Carpenter said.
Pillow put JA away in the fourth, building a 16-point lead with two minutes left to play after senior Meagan Webb hit a pair of foul shots to make it 42-26.
Senior guard Katie Buford scored all eight of her points in the fourth, hitting a pair of 3-pointers, to help her team finish off the Lady Raiders.
Senior point guard Clansey Flautt finished with a team-high 14 points for PA and dished out four assists. Webb wound up with nine points and six rebounds.
Coleman had seven points and two steals.
JA was led in scoring by sophomore Jalessa Taylor, who had 14.
It was the third straight loss for JA, which is 16-8.
The Lady Mustangs led 9-6 at the end of the first period, thanks to a basket from Webb and an assist from Betsy Nelson.
The win wraps up the No. 1 seed in the upcoming State AAA Division I Tournament, set for Feb. 8-12 at JA.
Pillow plays at Starkville Friday and then closes out the regular season next week with home games against Magnolia Heights (Tuesday) and MRA (Friday).
The Pillow boys lost 61-30 to No. 2-ranked JA Tuesday night, falling to 9-15 on the year.
The Raiders (23-2) led 13-9 at the end of the first period and 27-12 at the half. JA then outscored Pillow 17-6 in the third and 17-12 in the fourth.
Senior Bryce Daves led PA with 11 points, and senior Matt Hargett was next with nine.
Junior high: The PA ninth-grade girls beat JA 48-28 to move to 17-2.
Ellen Hull had a stellar game with a team-high in points (12) and rebounds (six). She also had four steals.
Courtney Burgess had 10 points, four assists and three steals, while Mallory Dickard added eight points and a team-high six steals. Stella Malouf had eight points and four steals.
The Pillow junior high boys defeated JA 44-37 to move to 15-2.
Pate Shackelford led the way with 15 points, and Markus Thomas added 10.
