MADISON — Facing the top-ranked teams in the state, it was going to take pretty big upsets for the Pillow Academy girls and boys teams to extend their seasons.
The Lady Mustangs came close to knocking off Madison-Ridgeland Academy but fell just short, while the Mustangs were dominated on the boards by Jackson Academy in a game that got away from them in the second half.
The PA girls led the first three quarters before the Lady Raiders escaped with a 42-41 victory to advance to the State AAA Tournament semifinals Friday — ending the Lady Mustangs’ season at 16-14.
The Mustangs were outrebounded 37-16 in a 63-43 loss to the Raiders (25-6) — ending their season at 14-16.
In the girls game, Mary Key Britt hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter to give PA a 31-27 advantage, but MRA rallied to take a 34-33 lead with 4:04 to play.
The Lady Patriots led by as many as five in the final two minutes. Abby Bailey drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer for PA, but it was too little too late.
“That was a tough one,” said Lady Mustang coach Durwin Carpenter. “I have been telling our girls we’re capable of beating the top teams if we don’t have defensive breakdowns and mental mistakes. We had some of those tonight.
“We missed some layups early and some free throws later that hurt us in the end.”
Carpenter added: “I am proud of how hard our girls played. It hurts to see their season end like this.”
Senior Merritt Belk just missed a double-double in her final game at Pillow, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds. She also had a team-high four steals.
Britt had seven points, followed by April Leonard with six points, eight boards and three steals.
PA led 9-4 at the end of the first quarter and by as many as 12 early in the second after a 3-pointer from Britt followed by a layup from Kathleen Gallagher, who finished with six points.
Pillow led 21-11 at the half and 28-27 at the end of the third.
In the boys game, Pillow trailed 26-20 at the half. JA led by 13 midway through the third quarter before back-to-back 3-pointers from Will Jennings and Steve Pannell made it a five-point game.
JA responded with the final six points of the period to lead 43-32, and the Mustangs ran out of gas in the fourth against a deeper, more talented team.
“Pillow put a scare into us when they cut it to five. As hard as Russ (Whiteside) has them playing, I knew they would fight back,” said JA coach Bill Ball. “I love the hustle those guys give for him, but I am glad our kids responded.”
Echoing Ball, Whiteside praised the effort his kids gave.
“Our guys played hard like they have all year long. I am proud of the progress they made from the start to the end of the season,” said the first-year PA coach.
“Hopefully, we can take that effort into the offseason. We need to improve fundamentally and on the offensive end.
“Our guys understand that, and I know they’ll be ready to go back to work in a few weeks.”
JA’s dominance on the boards allowed it 19 more shots than the Mustangs.
Will Parrish paved the way for JA’s dominance in the paint with a game-high 19 rebounds and a team-high 12 points.
Pannell led the Mustangs in scoring with 11 points, followed by Jennings with 10 and Tyler McKay with eight.
