The Mineola Lady Jackets fell to the visiting Wills Point Lady Tigers, 32-19, last Friday. 

Mineola played almost three full quarters of Lady Jacket basketball and led 18-14 with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter. Wills Point surged to close the quarter with a 21-18 lead and continued their run into the final stanza with an 8-point stretch. 

That fourth quarter run gave Wills Point a decisive win. The game may not seem particularly noteworthy, but it was full of good news for the Jackets.

Mineola plagued, pestered and pressured the Lady Tigers through almost three quarters. It had the desired effect. The Lady Jackets forced 11 first quarter turnovers by Wills Point and generated a number of lay-ups and short transition shot attempts which unfortunately just did not fall. 

Those initial seconds following a turnover will no doubt be an area of much hard work by the team before the start of district play. 

Mineola effectively stopped the ball and played great helping defense until the late run by Wills Point.

Offensively, the timing was much improved over their effort against Sulphur Springs. What they continued to lack offensively was a good sense of when to pull up from the drive and take the short jump shot. 

That sense will come, as will the immediate outlet pass after securing a turnover. 

From a leadership perspective, senior Tahjae Black had her best game of the year with a strong court presence. Junior Kapri Riley and sophomore Mylee Fischer also established themselves as all-around players through the course of the game. 

Most concerning for the Jackets was getting out-rebounded, especially down the stretch, as the game became looser. Maintaining the rebounding regime with which they started the game must be a focus in their upcoming efforts. The points will follow. 

The Lady Jackets host Grand Saline on Friday, Dec. 11, and travel to Tyler Chapel Hill on Saturday, Dec. 12 before commencing district play Dec. 15 at home against Winona.