After losing at Green on a buzzer beater, and then by four at home, the Bears finally broke the skid. The losing streak to Green went back two seasons, but ended tonight.

Jackson started fast, but Green didn’t let the Polar Bears roll out of here easy. The Bulldogs cut a 23-5 second quarter deficit to eight early in the 4th.

A lot of that was due to Mallory Oddo’s 13 points coming out of half. Once Green cut it to eight to start the half, Halle Ignacio drove and made a great dish to Padibandla to stop the Bulldog run.

Although not so much in the scoring column Ignacio was a big part of Jackson’s success tonight. The senior PG, who is committed to Mount Union has defended really good PG’s the last two games. Friday night against GlenOak’s Breezy Williams and tonight against Bri Hunt. Halle held Hunt to a single field goal in the first half and nothing easy the whole game.

After a frustrating night on Friday in Jackson’s district final win over GlenOak, Leena Padibandla had the game of her life. She went for a career high 21 points and did what she wanted to most of the nights. She beat defenders off the dribble and also added a power game to her arsenal and buried smaller defenders.

Despite the loss the Green Bulldogs have a lot to be proud of. They put the program on the map and advanced to regionals for the first time in recent memory. They have proven people wrong all season long, including myself.

Jackson moves on to the regional final on Saturday against St. Joseph Academy who defeated Hoban as a heavy underdog in OT 65-58. That game will be played at Medina HS at 2PM.

Categories: Uncategorized