The J.Z. George Jaguars ran into a couple of tough Region 3-3A opponents last week in prep basketball action.
The Jaguars lost their first game of the week on the road to Ruleville Central 81-38. They returned home to take on Yazoo County, who had beaten the Jaguars 88-38 earlier in the season. The Jaguars didn’t win but they made it closer, falling 51-39 to Yazoo County.
The Jaguars have three games scheduled for this week. They were to visit Charleston on Tuesday. On Thursday, they host East Webster in a makeup game. They close out the week with a home game against Humphreys County.
“We didn’t beat Yazoo County but we showed improvement,” Coach Jonathan Childs said. “The guys are working hard and showing improvement. Our goal is to continue to improve and make it to the state playoffs.”
Ruleville Central took a 23-8 lead against the Jaguars in the first quarter. Ruleville outscored J.Z. George 27-15 in the second quarter and led 50-23 at the half. The Tigers would outscore J.Z. George 31-25 in the second half.
Malik Branch led the Jaguars with 20 points while Devonta Smith scored seven.
J.Z. George led Yazoo County 13-6 after the first quarter. The Panthers came back to outpoint the Jaguars 12-9 in the second quarter. At the half, J.Z. George led 22-18.
The third quarter would do the Jaguars in as Yazoo County had a 15-4 scoring edge. The Panthers led 33-26 heading into the final period. The Jaguars outscored Yazoo County 13-11 in the final eight minutes of play but couldn’t overcome the deficit.
Keldrick Glover led the Jaguars with nine points while Malik Christian scored seven points.
