Lancaster (Tuesday, February 17)—Sparked by a strong offensive 4th quarter, Forney was able to rally past Ennis and win the Bi-District Championship.

With the 68-62 win, Forney improves to 18-17 overall on the season while with the loss, Ennis sees its season end at 21-12.

Forney advances to the Area Round of the Playoffs where they will meet Jacksonville. Jacksonville is the District 14-4A Champion. Jacksonville is 24-10 on the season. In the Bi-District round of the playoffs, Jacksonville beat Marshall 46-43. Jacksonville is currently on a 14 game win streak.

At press time, the specifics of where and when the game would be played had not been totally finalized.

After three quarters, Forney trailed 44-39. But Forney came out in the 4th quarter and began to light up the scoreboard at a dizzying pace.

Sophomore guard Jamie Wilson began that memorable fourth quarter for Forney by banking in a 3 point shot. That shot seemed to ignite Forney offensively. And, once Forney gets hot offensively, it is hard to slow them down as Ennis found out first hand.

Wilson would score one more basket in the 4th quarter. That basket would give Forney a 46-44 lead. It would be a lead that the Lady Rabbits never would relinquish. Once they had the lead, Forney began to pour it on offensively. They began to hit shots from all over the court-- be it jumpers, three pointers, lay ups or free throws.  

In all, Forney scored 29 points in the fourth quarter. It was fun to watch.

When Ennis finally called a time out late in the 4th quarter, Forney was leading by nine points at 67-58. During that timeout, the Forney fans were going crazy with excitement while the Ennis fan base sat in stunned silence. At this point, I broke out the victory smile because I knew we were going to win.

While Forney was shooting the lights out in the 4th quarter, another thing came to my attention. Forney was in better shape than Ennis. In the closing moments of the game, the Forney players were still going strong while in contrast the Ennis players were dead on their feet.

Forney had several players play well on Tuesday night. A super star performance was turned in by Darien Jackson. The sophomore post did a little bit everything in this Bi District Playoff Game. She scored points (24 points in all), she rebounded with intensity, and she was the primary ball handler for Forney in the game. With the playoff spotlight on, Jackson made sure to put on a great for all the fans in attendance.

Also, Ashlea Gilbert and Lezlie Jeffrey did what they have done all season in this playoff game. They came up big when it mattered most.  In the 4th quarter, Gilbert and Jeffrey combined to score 15 points. Gilbert and Jeffrey are two outstanding senior leaders.

For the game, Gilbert and Jeffrey would both score 14 points.

Finally, Alex Fenceroy played with a warrior’s heart on this night as she battled against a very physical Ennis team on the bards all night long. Anytime the Lady Rabbits needed a big rebound or a key defensive stop in this game, Fenceroy would do what was necessary to get the job done. Alex Fenceroy can play on my team anytime anywhere. It also should be noted that Fenceroy scored 10 points in the game too.

***

In the first 3 quarters of the game, there were many twists and turns. At the beginning of the game, Ennis, sparked by an aggressive press defense, raced out to an 8-1 lead. In fact, it took Forney five minutes to score a basket.

Ennis would eventually build as much as a 9-point lead at 23-14 before Forney would fight back. After their shaky start, Forney would regroup and mount a charge of the own. A 9-0 Forney run would tie the game at 23-all at the 2:15 mark of the 2nd quarter.  Ennis would finish the 1st half on a 6-0 run and take a 29-23 lead into the half time locker room.

At the half, Forney knew that to win the game they would have to rebound the ball better. Ennis’ Ashley Lewis and Tina Anderson scored off offensive rebounds on numerous occasions in the first half.

For the game, Anderson would score 21 points while Lewis would register 10 points.

In the 3rd quarter, Ennis would build the lead up 7 at 36-29.  At this point in the game, the Lady Lions seemed to have things going their way. But, just when it looked like Ennis was gaining control of the game, Forney battled their way back into the contest.  A10-1 Forney run was capped by a Darien Jackson 3 pointer which gave the Lady Rabbits their first lead of the game at 39-37 with 1:44 remaining in the 3rd quarter.     

Forney would not have the lead for long because Ennis would finish the 3rd quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 44-39 lead

Going into the fourth quarter, Ennis appeared to have all the momentum.

But in the end, Forney would own the fourth quarter and they would walk away as the Bi-District Champions.

Forney is moving on in the playoffs.

Bi-District Playoff Game Results
(District 15-4A Teams)

Tuesday, February 17:

Forney 68, Ennis 62

Waxahachie 73, West Mesquite 66

Waco High School 64, Terrell 38

Monday, February 16:

Waco Midway 68,  Mesquite Poteet 29