By Michael Lindsay
Despite the frigid weather, the Cumberland County Lady Jets are heading into the Christmas weekend red-hot as they won the Heritage Christmas Tournament Thursday afternoon by defeating the host-school Mountaineers, 61-60.
The Lady Jets defeated Campbell County 60-25 on Tuesday and Clinton on Wednesday, 60-36.
In the Campbell County victory, senior point guard Emery Baragona scored 18 points to lead the Lady Jets along with 11 by senior Jorja Anderson.
Cumberland County (vs. Campbell County) (60): Emery Baragona 18, Jorja Anderson 11, Grace Baldwin 9, Jalynn Baldwin 8, Alexis Carroll 6, Abby Houston 3, Aliyah Hawkins 3, Molly Neal 2
Wednesday’s 60-36 victory over Clinton saw three Lady Jets hit double figures, led by senior Abby Houston with 15 points. Anderson scored 12 along with 10 from Jalynn Baldwin.
Cumberland County (vs. Clinton) (60): Abby Houston 15, Jorja Anderson 12, Jalynn Baldwin 10, Grace Baldwin 9, Emery Baragona 8, Aliyah Hawkins 6
In Thursday’s championship, the Lady Jets trailed by 13 points (37-24) early in the third quarter before outscoring the Mountaineers 17-9 in the period to trail 43-41 going into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter, a pair of Grace Baldwin free throws gave the Lady Jets a 59-56 lead with 40 seconds remaining. Following a Mountaineer free throw, Cumberland County’s Aliyah Hawkins hit a pair of free throws to put the Lady Jets up 61-56 with less than 20 seconds left. Heritage would hit a three-pointer with less than two seconds remaining to bring the final score within one at 61-60.
Forward Jalynn Baldwin had 18 points in the championship game win along with 17 by Baragona.
Baragona was named tournament MVP while Jorja Anderson, Jalynn Baldwin and Grace Baldwin were named all-tournament.
Cumberland County (vs. Heritage) (61): Jalynn Baldwin 18, Emery Baragona 17, Aliyah Hawkins 9, Jorja Anderson 9, Abby Houston 6, Grace Baldwin 2
The Lady Jets are currently 10-2 overall and will travel to Pensacola, FL, for tournament action after Christmas.
