LUMBERTON – As Jayla Adams stepped to the free throw, line she showed no signs of fear, anxiety, or panic.
Rather, her face was full of confidence despite the pressure of her team trailing by one with 10 seconds left in overtime to decide the district championship.
“I just knew I had to make that free throw for my team,” Adams said. “We practice them every day before we begin practice. I knew it was important.”
With complete ease, Adams knocked down both free throws to seal Lumberton’s 57-54 victory over Enterprise-Lincoln to win the Lady Panthers’ fourth straight district championship.
In fact, Lumberton coach Brennan Kuehl was so confident in Adams that he didn’t even bother to watch her second free throw.
“I didn’t have a shred of our doubt,” Kuehl said. “I don’t even think I was watching the second free throw when Jayla was at the line. We were prepared for what we had to do next after she made it.
Adams is a prime example of the experience that Lumberton (20-4) is filled with, as the Lady Panthers lost only one player from last year’s squad that reached the state championship. Adams was one of three different Lady Panthers to hit game-deciding free throws. With five seconds left in regulation, De’Nashia Holder hit a game-tying free throw with five seconds left to force overtime, while Kali Chavis nailed two more free throws after Adams’ shots to secure the victory.
“When D’Nashia Holder went to the line in the fourth quarter, I knew 100% that she was going to make at least one of them,” Kuehl said. “I had full confidence
“No matter what kind of game plan or what you have practiced all that year, it doesn’t add up to having trips to the Big House. My girls expect to win those games. The huge thing is that when you go into any situation, and you don’t care what it looks like, you are expecting to win it a lot of times, which gives you that extra effort, extra energy and grit to come out on top.”
The two teams traded leads all night, but just before halftime, the Lady Jackets went on a 9-2 run to take a 26-20 lead. However, Adams ignited Lumberton’s offense as she scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half.
“It’s my senior year, and I want to win it all,” said Adams, who has now helped Lumberton win four straight district championships. I’m going for the big ball.”
“It was just keeping my teammates confident. If we are all on the same page, we have good ball movement, and everybody is in the right mindset, then we are good.”
Lumberton struggled to stop Enterprise-Lincoln’s Caitlin Case, who was named the district’s MVP. Case scored 27 points as she went 10-for-12 from the free-throw line and made three 3-pointers.
“She’s a tough one to guard because she is six foot, so she can get off any shot that she wants, and she has range,” Kuehl said. “She can shoot it from 25 feet…If we were going to give her a three, then we wanted to make sure that it was far back. We knew that she is great at driving and getting fouls called. That was the emphasis before and during the game."
However, along with Adams' night, Chavis scored 10 points and Denasha Young added 13 points.
“We have battled back and forth with Enterprise both times that we played them," Kuel said. "Nothing that happened tonight was a surprise to us. We knew they were going to bring their A-game. We knew what they were going to do defensively and offensively. We were prepared for it. We knew this was going to be a tough game.”
The Lady Panthers stayed vigilant in the paint while their defense delivered plays in the most pivotal moments. According to Adams, both will be needed as Lumberton heads to the playoffs.
“We have to stay focused and keep our head on,” Adams said. “We all have to know that we have to contribute in any kind of way both defensively and offensively. I like our bond. We all know how to motivate each other and get each other to play well.”
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