Lady Indians win opener

It wasn’t easy, but it was a win.

The No. 3 Chipola Lady Indians defeated FCCJ 84-75 in the season-opener Monday night in Jacksonville, surviving a free-throw fest that featured 57 total fouls
between the teams.

The Lady Indians led 34-28 at halftime, and survived in the second half despite having three players foul out. Two more finished the game with four fouls each.

“It was crazy,” Chipola coach David Lane said after the game. “I think that was the longest game I’ve ever been a part of.”

The fouls were evenly distributed, with Chipola being whistled for 28 fouls and FCCJ for 29.

Chipola made 29-of-42 at the charity stripe, while FCCJ was 23-of-37.

Lindsey Carr led the Lady Indians with 18 points, while Bianca Jarrett added 17, Jasmine Shaw 16 and Malesha Petterson 13.

Shaw, Tykiesha O’Neil, and Darrlita Taylor all fouled out for the Lady Indians, who went to a zone defense in the final eight minutes of the game to prevent further foul trouble.

Lane said FCCJ was very aggressive taking the ball to the basket against man-to-man defense.

“They’re just a different team. They’re all drive, drive, drive. They’d just drive and put their heads down, and we were bad at taking charges. Then we started reaching and grabbing.

“(Going zone) got them out of rhythm offensively. I think they stopped trying to drive to get to the basket. They seemed not to handle (the zone) real well, which was what we were hoping.”

FCCJ briefly took the lead by a point at the 11-minute mark of the second half, but the Lady Indians regained the edge by four before going zone and closing out the game.

“It was just a frustrating game,” Lane said. “We weren’t able to get into much of a rhythm offensively. But we did a good job getting some good spacing and getting a couple of buckets when we needed to.

“We had some good offensive possessions, and Lindsey Carr hit a couple of big shots for us down the stretch.”

Lane said his team, which makes its home debut Friday and Saturday in the Milton H. Johnson Classic, still had much room to grow.

However, the coach said he was happy with its resolve to pull out Monday night’s win.

“We’re in uncharted waters right now, so it’s difficult to judge where we’re supposed to be,” Lane said. “I just don’t know with this group because we’re brand-new, but we’re starting to get some things.

“We need to get tougher, and we need more of an identity. But being able to scrap and get a win says a lot about the group. We were able to execute down the stretch and get it done.”