Kerley Powers Lady Trojans to District Semifinal Win

JTV Sports File Photo

By David Rice | JTV Sports

Wednesday, March 1st 2023

We got a rubber match between the Lady Trojans and Pirates on Wednesday night in the MHSAA Girls Basketball District Semifinal out at Grass Lake HS, and it was a good one. Back and forth baskets plus scrappy, physical basketball made it one to watch. 

Napoleon jumped out to an early 6-2 lead with baskets coming from Camryn Smilowski, Maggie Beer, and Karson Fairbanks just 2 minutes in. The Pirates controlled the boards early on and were in control to begin. But, East Jackson got the Trojan offense going not long after.

EJ, with back-to-back steals, tied it at 6-6 with 4:17 left. Then, Addisyn Rudd gave EJ the first lead of the game, making it 8-6 in just under 2 minutes. Napoleon was able to step up again, thanks to Hayden Rendall’s layup to tie it at 8 with 1:58 left. 

After the opening quarter, Napoleon leads 10-9.

Fairbanks opened up the second quarter with a layup to extend Napoleon’s lead to 3. After missing 3 straight shots, East Jackson started to stay in it thanks to the star of the game, Mariah Kerley. Kerley hit a layup to even it at 13, with 3:41 left in Q2, followed by 2 more points to cut the deficit to 3 with 20 seconds left.

Both teams playing physical, low scoring basketball with it being 16-15 at halftime in favor of Napoleon.

The second half continued excitement, back and forth. Maggie Beer extended Napoleon’s lead to 3 with a layup and then a block on the defensive end, 18-15 with 7:22 left. Rudd fired back for East Jackson, making it a 1-point game again. This game remained around 1-possession for the majority of the second half. 

Mariah Kerley added 4 more 3rd quarter points for EJ, giving them a 2 point lead with 1:10 left in Q3. After the 3rd quarter, we were tied at 23-23. 

Napoleon hung around and kept it close for the majority of the final quarter, beginning with a Momo Hampton 3-pointer to make it 26-23. Addisyn Rudd cut it back to 1 for EJ, then Kerley became that 4th quarter star they were looking for. East Jackson scored 8 unanswered points in 2:30, led by 6 of those from Mariah Kerley, making it 31-27. 

Napoleon responded with 2 baskets from Maggie Beer, and cut it down to a 33-31 deficit with 1:25 left. Unfortunately, EJ stepped up on defense to start to ice the game in the final 90 seconds. Free throws from Rudd and Kerley, plus a steal by Kennedy Goodwin made it 35-31. 

An Aubree Bell layup made it 37-31 with 30 seconds left. East Jackson hangs on to win the District Semifinal 40-36. Mariah Kerley, with a huge second half, led EJ with 18 points and Addisyn Rudd added 11. Maggie Beer and Karson Fairbanks both scored 10 for Napoleon.

East Jackson will play Grass Lake for the District Championship on Friday night at 7pm at GLHS, a 3rd game (rubber match) between these two schools.