Bogalusa’s Lady Jacks used a pressuring defense to create turnovers that led to layups and defeated Varnado, 51-13, in Tuesday’s game at VHS.
“That is the goal, is to create turnovers,” Bogalusa coach Jarvious Grayson said. “That is our philosophy. That is what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to create a new approach to basketball here, a new mentality, and we’re working hard each and every day.
“Our goal is to create turnovers and make layups. It’s just that simple. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
The Lady Jacks scored the game’s first 14 points over the opening 12 minutes of the game.
Bogalusa had a 5-0 lead through the first quarter. Quantasia Lewis tallied the points with a 3-pointer with 6:51 left and she drove in for two with 1:07 on the clock. Lewis finished with 14 points. She said that getting off to the good start was important for the Lady Jacks.
“To get out of the gate and be up by 10 points or more, that’s a good start for us because it just shows how we come out and work hard,” Lewis said.
Bianca Pittman, who posted six points, made it 7-0 with 5:39 left in the first half on a jumper. Deranique Lee hit a pair of free throws for a 9-0 advantage. Samyra White was good on a field goal before Shaunte Chatmon hit the front end of a 1-and-1 at the 4:02 mark. She missed the second free throw, but a Bogalusa offensive rebound led to Pittman hitting for two and it was 14-0.
Varnado got on the scoreboard with 3:12 to go, when Quierra Bickham knocked down a 3-pointer, trimming the lead to 11.
Bogalusa led 17-5 late in the first half when Lee threw a shot up from about three-quarters court at the buzzer and nailed the attempt. Her long-distance shot gave the Lady Jacks a 20-5 lead at halftime.
Lee led all scorers with 15 points, including the 3-pointer.
Bogalusa began the second half with the first six points. Lewis hit a layup, Chatmon made a pair of free throws and Pittman pulled down an offensive rebound and hit the putback to make it 26-5 with 4:12 left in the third quarter.
Varnado stopped the run when Bickham grabbed an offensive board and was good on the follow-up attempt at the 2:06 mark.
The Lady Jacks finished the quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 32-9 lead into the third quarter, en route to the 51-13 win.
Chatmon scored seven points for Bogalusa while Chloe Foster posted five and White recorded four.
Bickham tallied seven points for Varnado and Jaden Foster scored six.