'A good stepping stone': Jay girls basketball stays unbeaten after win over Pace

With two undefeated teams entering John Clarence Smith Gymnasium at Jay High School undefeated, Royals girls basketball head coach Jorey Diamond was looking for a game to be a “litmus test” for his girls.

And on Monday, he found it. Jay kept its undefeated season going with a 45-32 victory over Pace, after the Royals started to pull away at the end of the game.

Jay hit 17 of 20 free throws in the fourth quarter to extend its lead late in the game, and the Patriots just didn’t have an answer. The Royals finished the game with nine unanswered points.

“We’ve been talking all year about not resting on our laurels. We had a great year last year, but that’s last year,” said Diamond, whose team went 19-4 last season and ended in the Region 1-1A final. “We want to establish who we are this year – and I think tonight’s win is a good stepping stone to do that.”

Jay jumped out to an early 7-1 lead after the first quarter, primarily keeping the Patriots to the perimeter and not allowing any driving layups from Pace. And even when there was a chance, shots just weren’t falling – and the Royals snagged several rebounds.

It wasn’t until the third quarter where things got interesting, and the Patriots went on a couple small runs, forcing turnovers. Pace got within two points thanks to four consecutive layups from Alyssa Clark, who stole the ball from Jay a handful of times.

Right out of the gate in the fourth frame, Jay’s Georgia Lewis hit a pair of free throws, which seemed to take away any momentum Pace had mustered.

“We actually won the third quarter, but it wasn’t enough,” Pace head coach Greg Gill said. “But credit to Jay, God dang, this is the second year in a row we’ve lost to them. Jorey does a great job, and their kids believe. You could tell on their faces that they were confident throughout the game.”

Pace (9-1) suffers its first loss of the season and hosts Florida State University High School on Saturday. The Seminoles are 3-5, but have a game on Friday prior to the tilt against the Patriots.

“It’ll be interesting to see how we bounce back from this mentally,” Gill said.

Jay (9-0) will look to reach double-digits in the win column next Tuesday when the Royals host Poplar Springs (1-6).

“Even though we’re a young team, we have to think about playing to the best of our ability. Our season isn’t over just because we beat (Pace),” Nelson said. “We have to continue to play our best basketball.”

Keeping the Patriots to a slow pace

Gill called Jay's gym a "great environment" to play in. That also made it tough for the Patriots, who struggled to get things going in the early stages of the contest.

The only point that Pace scored in the first quarter was a free throw from Grace Manor, who drew a foul after attempting a fast-break layup.

Even then, Pace couldn't get things going in the second stanza, either. The Patriots couldn't connect on a few passes, and Jay's defense tipped or stole several passes.

While Shields nailed a 3-pointer just 19 seconds into the third quarter, and the Patriots made it a ball game after going on some small runs, it wasn't enough to overtake the Royals.

"I thought once we settled down, it was a little too late," Gill said. "We just need to have composure in these moments, and maybe we'll grow out of this. ... Mentally, we dug a hole and couldn't get out of it."

And slowing down the Patriots' tempo worked in Jay's favor.

"Any time you can just play with them, it’s one thing. But our girls, defensively, I can’t say enough," Diamond said. "They grinded out the win. We knew it was going to be that type of game, where we had to control the tempo and just play good solid defense and rebound. The girls did everything I asked of them tonight."

"Whenever they start going, they’re going to keep going. They have a fast tempo," Nelson said. "We had to keep going strong.”

A team win in a playoff atmosphere

Jay and Pace will never meet in the playoffs. The Royals are a 1A school while the Patriots compete in 6A. But a nice little rivalry is starting to form between these two schools.

Monday's win was Jay's second victory in the last seven meetings between two Santa Rosa County schools. They'll face each other again this season on Jan. 16, but the Patriots will play host next time around.

It was a physical game on Monday, something Gill and Diamond both expected – and embraced.

"It’s going to be a battle when you come up here," Gill said.

"We expect it against Pace and the playoffs," Diamond said. "Our girls just answered the bell."

As for Jay, Diamond called it "a team win," where the Royals play "good, controlled basketball."

Diamond also highlighted certain bench players, such as Georgia Lewis, who had a 3-pointer with 3:21 left in the game that stopped six unanswered points from the Patriots.

She also had a layup with 11.4 seconds left in the third quarter to give Jay some breathing room.

"She came in off the bench and made some huge buckets tonight," Diamond said. "Everybody that came in for us tonight had the same kind of intensity."

'Let's known them down'

Pace's Emily Neal was called for a technical foul just a couple minutes into the fourth quarter, following a shooting drawn by the Royals.

So what would normally be a normal two-free throw affair quickly turned into four consecutive free throws with no one standing around the paint.

Nelson, a freshman, was the player selected to take all four free throws.

"I was thinking, 'It's just like practice. Let's knock them down,'" Nelson said. "I tried not to get worked up about them or anything, and just shoot free throws like I know how to."

One by one, she hit every free throw – and each shot brought a gradual increase of cheers from the Royals' faithful. And that became a "confidence-booster" for the rest of the game for Nelson, she added.

As Jay started to draw more and more fouls at the end of the game, the Royals started to ice the game as Lewis, Nelson, Presley Hawthorne and Hattie Locklin all hit at least one free throw.

"At the end of the game, we started getting out there. We knew we had to make free throws and finish around the rim," Nelson said. "We did that, and we took it to them.

"And we finished."

Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached on X (@BenGriecoSports) and via email at BGrieco@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Jay girls basketball defeats Pace at home, stays undefeated