The Mineola Lady Jackets employed a tried-and-true formula to register a 56-34 win Tuesday against the visiting Lady Indians of Grand Saline. The Lady Jackets stormed out of the chute, placed immense pressure on the visitors, and built a 13-point advantage after one quarter of play.

It took Grand Saline a full quarter to get their bearings and minimize the damage wrought by the Mineola press. The Mineola advantage was too much to overcome.

The second and third quarters were remarkably even as Grand Saline began to solve the pressure and warm up their shooting hand.

The Lady Jackets, however, still carried each period and expanded the lead to 22 points by the final buzzer.

What won the game for the Lady Jackets was simple: relentless effort. That energy level was two-fold; the level of physical activity, as well as the on-court head work known as basketball acumen, both made the game.

Those two factors gave them their tenth district win – against no defeats – with two games remaining in the regular season. The last two games (Feb. 6 at Quitman and Feb. 10 versus Edgewood) are against the second and third place teams in district, respectively. The week will be a great tune-up for the playoffs.