By LEE HILLER, Journal Sports
Southwood hit its free throws in overtime to defeat East St. John 63-53 in Reserve Monday night, and moved on to the quarterfinals of the Class 5A girls basketball playoffs.
Jermesha Frierson sank six straight free throws in the final minute of OT to put away the No. 6 Ladycats. Frierson scored 12 of her 24 points in the extra period to lead the No. 11-seeded Lady Cowboys.
The final margin was the largest lead of the game as neither team could shake the other during regulation.
Southwood took a 49-46 lead on a 3-pointer from Ma’Shaylen Pratt with 50 seconds left in regulation.
Twice the Lady Cowboys went to the line to shoot 1-and-1s with a chance to widen the lead, the last with 8 seconds left. ESJ didn’t miss its second chance to tie the game as Ashia Ward hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with a little more than a second left to send it into overtime tied 49-49.
Frierson had 12 rebounds to give her a double-double. Pratt finished with 14 points and Minnie Williams added 12 points for Southwood, now 24-10. The Lady Cowboys will be back on the road in the quarterfinals at No. 3 Lafayette.
East St. John finished the season with a 26-4 record.
PARKWAY 72, ZACHARY 35: At Zachary, Mikaylah Williams tallied 20 points and Chloe Larry 15 as the No. 2 Lady Panthers improved to 31-2 on the season. Parkway will return home to host No. 10 Northshore in the quarterfinals.
NORTHSHORE 49, CAPTAIN SHREVE 43: At Captain Shreve, the Lady Panthers outscored the hosts 36-28 in the second half for the second-round win. Tiarra Tillison led all scorers for 10th seeded Northshore (23-9) with 23 points and Tierra Sylvas added 10. Freshman Carley Hamilton led the Gators (14-17) with 20 points.
WALKER 61, AIRLINE 40: The host Lady Wildcats used second-half defensive pressure to build on their 28-22 halftime lead in taking the second round Class 5A matchup. The Lady Vikings (23-13) were led by Kayla Hampton’s 9 points that all came in the first half. The top-ranked ‘Cats (29-1) got a game-high 17 points from Caitlin Travis and Ray’Onna Sterling added 15.
