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DECATUR, Alabama — Grimacing from pain after taking a hard foul near midcourt, Tyra Johnson shook her head as she walked gingerly to the foul line. The Austin freshman's right hand was obviously hurting. But a little pain didn't keep Johnson from draining the biggest free throw of her young career. Johnson drained a free throw to break a tie score with 30.7 seconds remaining in overtime, sending Austin past Bob Jones 44-43 on Thursday night in a Class 6A sub-regional game. Austin (23-7) advances to face Hoover on Wednesday in the Northwest Regional semifinals — the Black Bears first appearance in the tournament in seven years. "There was a lot of pressure," Johnson said of her final trip to the foul line. "I just tried to block everything out and come through for my team." Austin led almost the entire game, but the Black Bears' hopes took a significant hit with 2:36 remaining in the extra period when Takisha Jordan, the team's leading scorer, fouled out. Turns out, that wasn't an issue. Katie Speegle and Megan Hamilton made a pair baskets to bring Austin back from a four-point deficit. Jordan led Austin with 11 points, while Speegle tossed in 10. "Biggest win our team has been a part of," Jordan said. "Everything we had to overcome, that just makes winning tonight that much bigger. That was tough having to sit on the bench, but I never lost faith." Austin raced out to a commanding lead early, opening the game with a 16-4 run. Bob Jones didn't have a field goal until Meredith Lovelady made a jumper at the 7:36 mark of the second quarter. Lovelady led Bob Jones with 15 points, including three 3-pointers that helped the Patriots tie the score at 18 apiece by halftime. Bob Jones never led until overtime, but the Patriots kept the score within a few possessions for most of the second half. "Seeing these girls celebrate tonight, it's a great thing to watch," Austin coach Bruce Hamilton said. "They were dealt a lot of adversity tonight, but still found a way to persevere, and that was a great thing to see."  AL.com Reports, February 14, 2013 10:37 p.m.

MADISON, Alabama -- Top-ranked Sparkman picked off fourth-ranked Bob Jones for the second time this season, holding the Patriots at bay with a 62-53 win on Friday night. The Senators were led by Alexis Jennings with 27 points and Toni Brewer who added 14. The Patriots were led by Chandler Elder with 14 and Lindsey Jennings with 11. Sparkman (18-0) got off to a slow start in the first quarter scoring only eight points, but tough defense held the Patriots (17-2) to only four. Jennings came up big in the second quarter scoring eight points and the Senators full court press forced Bob Jones into nine first-half turnovers. The Senators led 25-17 at the half, but had not fully grabbed control of the game. Jennings came up big again in the third quarter scoring eight more points and Nicole Martin poured in five more to help the Senators take a 42-28 lead into the final period. In the fourth quarter, Sparkman quickly built a 19-point lead as Jennings proved she could score in the paint but also from the outside hitting a big three point shot with 4:08 left in the game. Bob Jones didn't give up and closed the gap with the help of Elder's clutch shooting and she hit three big 3-point shots in the final three minutes to help cut the Senators lead to 60-51 with 54 seconds left. In the end the Sparkman defense that forced 17 turnovers for the game and the inside scoring from Jennings proved to be too much for the Patriots. "Bob Jones is a tough team but we need to learn how to take care of the ball at the end of games," said Sparkman coach Patrick Delay, whose team committed 12 turnovers of its own. Jimmy Lay | al.com, January 04, 2013 8:42 p.m.

Lindsey Jennings poured in 20 points and grabbed five rebounds, leading Bob Jones High past Huntsville 40-35 Saturday night for the Decatur Orthopaedic Clinic Classic championship. This was Bob Jones’ third Classic title, and first since 2010. Bob Jones (19-1) overcame a slow start. The Patriots trailed 19-12 at halftime, but outscored Huntsville 10-0 in the third period. Nadia Stewart finished with seven points for Bob Jones. Ta’Naisha Hill led Huntsville with 16 points. From staff reports

MADISON — Lindsey Jennings glanced up and took a deep breath as she stepped to the free-throw line. Earlier in the game, Jennings had missed a few attempts at the stripe. But this time, with The Huntsville Times Ladies Classic title on the line, the Bob Jones guard was perfect. Jennings sank her first attempt to give Bob Jones the lead with 53.5 seconds remaining in the game, and she drained a second one for insurance, sending the Patriots past Brewer 29-25 tonight in the Times Ladies Classic championship game. "That was a tense fourth quarter," Jennings said. "Every possession, it felt like you had to make the most of it. All I know is it feels good to wins this tournament again." Bob Jones' win provided a Classic first. First-year coach Danny Petty became the first to win Classic titles with both boys and girls teams. He led Bob Jones' boys basketball team to the 2011 Times Classic title. "Who would have thought?" Petty said. "It's been an amazing journey. I'm just really proud of these girls for the way they hung in there, played hard and pulled this out. Any time you can win one of these, it's a big deal." Bob Jones (14-1) approached the Classic like the program's teams of old: Controlling the tempo with a methodical approach while forcing Brewer (14-1) to play a low possession game. The strategy worked to perfection. Bob Jones led almost the entire game, carrying a 23-15 cushion into the fourth quarter. "(Brewer) has great outside shooters and a great post player, so you've got to limit their shots," Petty said. "We just played our normal pressure defense, kept it in our best free-throw shooter's hands and tried to win it at the line at the end." Brewer made a run late. Riley Northway scored on consecutive possessions, tying the score at 23 apiece with 3:52 remaining. But Bob Jones ran almost two minutes off the clock on its next possession before Jennings made a pair of free throws to take the lead for good. Jennings led Bob Jones with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Anna Robertson added eight points. Northway recorded her fourth straight double-double, finishing with 12 points and 15 rebounds. "It was a lot of adversity, and we didn't respond very well," Brewer coach Ricky Allen said. "Overall, we made too many uncharacteristic mistakes early, we got upset and it took us three quarters to get the fire back. "But this happening, losing here, it doesn't have to be a bad thing. Sometimes you learn more from one loss than you do from 10 wins, and that's what we're going to try and do. We're going to try and learn from this experience." al.com Reports December 22, 2012 7:47 p.m.

HARVEST, Alabama -- Alexis Jennings dominated inside for a half against Bob Jones. Then she went long distance to deny a Patriots' comeback bid. The Sparkman standout junior hit a 3-pointer after Bob Jones got within nine with 2:35 left in the third quarter, and the Class 6A top-ranked Senators led by double figures the rest of the way in a 54-37 win over the fourth-ranked Patriots. "That was a big shot that she hit," said Sparkman coach Patrick Delay, whose team improved to 10-0 overall and 3-0 in Area 15. Jennings - widely regarded as one of the state's top prospects - finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds. She did the majority of her damage inside, scoring 20 points in the paint and drawing fouls that led to six made free throws. But her biggest shot was the trey after Jada Dale knocked down her second 3-pointer of the third quarter. Sparkman built as much as a 16-point advantage in the third quarter and took the biggest lead of the game at 22 (52-30) on a Nicole Martin trey late in the fourth quarter. "They played like they have all year long," Delay said. "This team's easy to coach. Not only do they have a lot of talent, but they give 100 percent effort in every game." Martin added eight points, and Cara Estes pulled down seven boards for the Senators, who shot 43.5 percent (20 of 46) from the field. Nadia Stewart's 15 points led Bob Jones (9-1, 1-1), which also got eight points from Dale. The Patriots didn't help themselves with a cold shooting night. Bob Jones was 0 for 7 from the field to open the game, 0 for 8 to start the second half and 15 percent (9 of 52) for the game. Bob Jones struggles were in large part due to the constant pressure of Sparkman's defense. "One of our team goals is to give up less than 45 points," Delay said." We have a pretty good feeling that if we can score more than 45, we've got a pretty good chance (to win)." Sparkman starter Maiya Rumph left the game late in the third quarter with an apparent lower leg injury. Sparkman plays at Florence on Monday. Bob Jones hosts Hazel Green on Tuesday. Daniel Boyette | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it December 14, 2012 8:35 p.m.

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Bob Jones used a performance in last year's Huntsville Times Ladies Classic to spark a run that took the Patriots to the Class 6A state championship game. They'll be hoping for a similar experience this December. Bob Jones is part of the 16-team field set for the 12th annual Classic, which will be held Dec. 20-22 at James Clemens and Bob Jones. The Patriots defeated Austin 48-32 in last year's final. The momentum carried over into the new calendar year, and Bob Jones went on to finish as the 6A state runner-up. Bob Jones has won the Classic four of the last five years, the lone setback coming in 2010 when it lost to Madison Academy in the championship game. Also taking part will be reigning Class 5A champion Brewer and Class 3A semifinalist Madison Academy. Rounding out the field are Johnson, Decatur, Lincoln County, Tenn., Lee, Arab, Austin, Columbia, Northridge, Huntsville, James Clemens, Athens, Hazel Green and Summertown, Tenn. Each team is guaranteed two games. On day one, teams on the top half of the bracket will play at James Clemens, while the lower half plays at Bob Jones. Winners continue in a bracket playing at James Clemens, and losers will play at Bob Jones. All Dec. 22 games will be at James Clemens. The final two teams remaining in the losers bracket will play for fifth place at 12:30 p.m., the third place game follows at 2 p.m. and the championship game is set for 4 p.m.
Daniel Boyette | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , October 31, 2012 6:14 p.m.

HUNTSVILLE TIMES LADIES CLASSIC
First round games
Dec. 20
Upper bracket at James Clemens
Brewer vs. Hazel Green, 3:30 p.m.
Lee vs. Arab, 5:00 p.m.
Johnson vs. Madison Academy, 6:30 p.m.
Huntsville vs. James Clemens, 8 p.m.
Lower bracket at Bob Jones
Austin vs Summertown, Tenn., 3:30 p.m.
Columbia vs. Northridge, 5:00 p.m.
Lincoln County, Tenn. vs Athens, 6:30 p.m.
Decatur vs. Bob Jones, 8:00 p.m.

Attachments:

File	File size
Huntsville Times 2012.pdf	5 Kb

A 32-16 second half propelled fourth-ranked Class 6A Bob Jones (7-0) to a victory over visiting 10th-ranked Austin. The contest was tied 23-23 at halftime. The Patriots' Lindsey Jennings scored a game-high 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had two steals. Sydney Booker scored 14 points, including three 3-pointers. The Black Bears' Takisha Jordan had 12 points. Tom Mathews | al.com, November 30, 2012 10:45 p.m.

Bob Jones 51, Buckhorn 41
Lindsey Jennings finished with 17 points and Chandler Elder scored 16 as Class 6A fourth-ranked Bob Jones improved to 9-0.

So much for rebuilding is the theme so far this season for both Bob Jones basketball teams. On Tuesday night, Bob Jones hosted Florence in non-area games and came away with two victories. While the games that count in area play are yet to come, the contests leading up to those are important to build confidence and team work. The girls’ team won 61-46 with Lindsey Jennings continuing to play at a high level. She led all scorers with 18 points coming both from outside and down low. She also led the team with 6 rebounds. Chandler Elder did most of her scoring from the free throw line hitting 9 of 11 free throws. The Lady Patriots are now 6-0 and Coach Danny Petty said the success does not surprise him because of the tradition of girl’s basketball at Bob Jones. “I’m real proud of the girls. We have not played our best basketball yet,” Petty said. “We’re still learning but the effort is good and the attitude has been good. They are working hard and that is all you can ask for.” As expected, Jennings is doing everything for the Lady Patriots, averaging 18 points per game and 8 rebounds. Tuesday night, a coach from the University of Massachusetts was in attendance as she had one of her best games. She played only 24 minutes as Bob Jones led the whole game. “She is playing lights out,” Petty said. “She is our floor leader. She is our best rebounder. She can penetrate. She is a great finisher at the basket. And now her outside shot is coming around.” The Bob Jones boys followed with a double overtime victory over Florence, 73-66. The back and forth game saw both teams with chances to win the game. Florence led 30-26 at the half and built an eight point lead early in the third quarter. Bob Jones point guard Jamarcus Jones hit a 3-point basket and Roderick Randolph had an offensive rebound and score to tie the game at 35. Tied at 40 going into the fourth quarter, Ryan Flanigan hit a jumper to put the Patriots up. But turnovers hurt the Patriots as Florence tied the game at 45 heading into overtime. Florence led most of the first overtime as Chauncey Watkins scored four of his game-high 30 points in the first OT. A Dalton Barclay 3-point play got Bob Jones close and with 6 seconds left, Jones hit a 3-point basket to tie the game at 62. Bob Jones dominated the second overtime as Florence center Darius Smith fouled out. The Patriots built a lead of 69-62 after Jonathon Oliver rebounded a missed free throw and scored. Jamarcus Jones led the Patriots with 19 points. He hit three 3-point shots and was 6 of 8 from the free throw line. Jones, a backup who saw little playing time last year, has emerged as a force on the court. He is shooting an efficient 40% from behind the arc and averaging 19 points per game. “It’s a big load but we are a good team all together,” Jones said of suddenly being the floor leader. Jones said he “did a lot of individual workouts this summer with my AAU coach” to prepare for his increased role on the team this season. Jones is a senior and is now 6-foot-1. Randolph, playing in his first game since football ended, was a major contributor with 10 points. He was a force on the offensive boards with 4 rebounds. The teams are back in action Friday night at home against Austin. They will play at James Clemens on Friday, December 7 in the first areas games of the season. “It will be a good atmosphere over there. The players have got a lot of friends playing for James Clemens,” Petty said. Lindsay Vaught