The Lady Hawks from Jackson Southside earned a berth in the Ladies Classic championship game on Saturday after defeating the Spartans from Knox Webb in the first semifinal game of the evening.

Points were precious in this one with two teams playing at a rapid pace but neither able to get the ball in the bucket at times. The winning Hawks shot only 28 percent from the floor (1-of-14 from the 3-point circle) and that was actually three points better than what the Spartans registered (3-of-20 from behind the arc).

Blame the defense of both squads for the tough night of offense. The physical affair resulted in neither team getting many open looks, and when they did, the shots often clanged away.

Still, Jackson proved to be the victor, thanks to their defense that held Webb to only six points in the final period while they managed to knock down 12 and pull away from a four point lead they held in the opening minutes of the quarter.

It was 31-27 less than a minute deep into the fourth when the Hawks collected six straight points to gain a 37-27 lead. There was only 1:30 left on the clock when Webb finally hit a field goal that cut the lead to eight, but that would be as close as they could get.

The Hawks were led by Jaidynn Askins with 14 points and eight rebounds and was the only double digit scorer for the winners. Rikiya Mitchell scored eight.

Webb also had one double figure scorer in Kyndeall Mays with 10 points and eight boards. Meeyah Green netted eight and also had eight rebounds.

Game Stats:

WEBB (32): Overton 0-5 0-0 0, Ladd 0-1 0-0 0, Mixon 0-1 0-0 0, Lowery 0-1 0-0 0, Emory 0-2 1-2 1, Bush 2-5 2-2 7, Taylor 2-10 0-0 6, Green 3-12 2-2 8, Kyndeall Mays 4-7 2-4 10. TOTALS: 11-44 7-10 32.

JACKSON (43): Cook 0-1 2-2 2, Mitchell 3-5 2-6 8, Jaidynn Askins 2-6 10-12 14, Lacy 0-4 4-6 4, Kemp 1-2 0-0 2, Long 1-6 0-0 2, Currie 2-11 2-2 7, Dilworth 1-1 2-2 4. TOTALS: 10-36 22-30 43.

3-Point Goals: KW—3 (Taylor 2, Bush). JSS—1 (Currie).

Score by Quarter 1 2 3 4
Knox Webb 8 6 12 6 – 32
Jackson Southside 6 17 8 12 – 43