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Johnson senior Alyssa Adams made her way back to the bench and collapsed to the floor with a smile.
She was elated and tired, mostly tired, after the No. 2 Jaguars pulled off a 72-61 victory over No. 1 Wagner in a Class 6A second-round playoff Friday night at Northside ISD Gym.
Adams scored 13 points and pulled down 22 rebounds for the Jaguars, who will face Judson the regional quarterfinals next week.
“They are a very good team and very competitive,” Adams said of Wagner. “They are kind of like us – very fast-paced. We had to learn how to keep the pace to ourselves.”
Adams’ efforts were needed after Johnson’s top two scorers – freshman Deja Kelly and senior Megan Valdez-Crader – were mired in foul trouble for most of the second half.
“Her shot wasn’t falling as much as we wanted it to, but she had 13 boards at the half,” Johnson’s Stephanie Desmarais said of Adams. “She is a workhorse.”
Adams was not alone. Michelle Brooks (six points) and Alina Falcon (four points) contributed points as the Jaguars bided time with Kelly and Valdez-Crader on the bench.
“I tell you what, people underestimate the rest of my girls,” Desmarais said. “I tried to instill in them, ‘Let’s go. Now, it’s your time to shine.’ ”
Johnson rode the hot scoring of Kelly and Crader-Valdez in the first half as the Jaguars build a 26-9 lead at the 5:54 mark of the second quarter.
The foul trouble arrived, and Wagner began chipping away. The Thunderbirds closed to within 30-24 following a 3-pointer by Angel Hastings at the 1:17 mark.
Johnson opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run. Wagner answered with a 5-0 and pulled the Thunderbirds to 41-31.
Wagner made one last run after Tamyra Avery and Kiana Williams hit back-to-back treys that cut Johnson’s lead to 63-57 with 1:10 in the fourth. Kelly, who led all scorers with 25 points, helped the Jaguars keep a distance by making 13 of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter. Valdez-Crader finished with 15.
Williams, a Stanford-signee and McDonald’s All-American, scored 23 points in her final high school game. Hastings had 13 and Avery had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
dhinojosa@express-news.net
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