Lady Aggies hit key shots to seal trip to Jackson

Feb. 27—KOSSUTH — Kossuth's seniors stepped up at an opportune time on Saturday afternoon.

Baliey Holt found her shooting groove early, and Katelyn Bumpas hit a pair of key threes in the final three minutes to seal the Lady Aggies' 59-47 win over Amory to clinch a trip to Jackson for the Class 3A state semifinals.

"We really showed up to finish games," Kossuth coach Angie Malone said. "We did that at Independence in the second round, and we've been doing that all year."

Bumpas' two threes jump-started a quick 8-0 run with 2:50 to go when Kossuth (19-5) was up 45-37.

Katie Meeks, Zoe Essary and Ava Meeks were able to ice the win from the free-throw line from there.

The Lady Aggies were able to find some separation in the second quarter with a 9-0 run for a double-digit lead at 20-8, but Amory fought back from there, with buckets from Jatavia Smith and Amiya Robinson cutting it to six.

Laney Howell's three from the line and an Amaya Trimble layup made it a three-point game before Katie Meeks finished off the first half with a 24-19 Kossuth lead.

The Lady Panthers were able to get it to as few as two in the third on back-to-back baskets from Smith.

"Our game plan was to shut down 12 (Bumpas) and 41 (Essary), and we did that for the most part," Amory coach Nathan Newell said. "They had some other girls who stepped up and scored too."

Essary led Kossuth with 15 points, while Bumpas added 13. Smith fought through foul trouble to lead all scorers with 17 points for Amory.

THREE-POINTERS

Turning Point: Meeks hit her first three-pointer with 2:50 to go, then another one right after that with 2:27 left.

Point Maker: Essary had 13 of her team-leading 15 points in the second half.

Talking Point: "They are really determined. It's unfinished business from last year, and we're really focused on trying to play together right now." — Kossuth coach Angie Malone