JAY – The first quarter was a bit like the day after a major January Nor’Easter: The Jay girls’ basketball team had some digging out to do.

After falling behind by double digits early, the Tigers scratched and clawed their way back numerous times Saturday night. Each time, Hall-Dale answered with enough flurries to hold off the Tigers for a 51-47 win.

“I would say that this is the first time that we underestimated a team,” said Jay coach Chris Bessey. “I know it’s absurd for us to do that. I think we were a little bit shell-shocked.”

After being down by 10 three times in the first quarter, Jay tied the game early in the third. The Bulldogs (7-3) answered every Tiger comeback with another surge. Hall-Dale built a six-point lead in the third. Jay cut it to one late in the quarter and then erased leads of five and six in the fourth. The Tigers even had two chances to tie in the final minute. A Liz LeBlanc 3-point attempt missed.

When Beth Moore scored, she pulled Jay within one, 48-47, and had a chance to tie it after a foul with seven seconds left. Her free throw bounced off the rim. The Bulldogs got the rebound and got free throws from Amy Skillings and Taylor Massey to seal it.

“One of the things we talked about at halftime was, as poor as we played in the first half and as well as they played, we were only down by six,” said Bessey. “…It’s a good sign for your team that you can compete like that when you’re not playing that well.”

Skillings had a game-high 16 while Erika Brann and Jess Woods each had 10 for the Bulldogs.

“This is a big win,” said Skillings, a senior forward. “We’re so excited. We were all in the locker room and Coach (Wes Brann) came in saying that he had a good feeling. We all had a good feeling. We all knew something good was going to happen.”

Jay (8-2) got 11 from Hillary Dean and 10 each from LeBlanc, Mallory Bonnevie and Moore.

The Bulldogs started the game with an 11-2 run. A LeBlanc 3-pointer and Bonnevie three-point play late in the quarter cut the lead to 16-12, but Hall-Dale opened it two eight again in the second.

“We tried to force way too many things offensively,” said Bessey. “We do want to push the ball. We do want to score in transition, but sometimes we have a habit when nothing’s there that they hurry and try to get a shot off.”

When Jay was more patient they were successful in the halfcourt, but the Tigers couldn’t do that regularly. After a Moore basket in the lane and a Kelsea Beisaw basket off a Moore feed, Jay finished the third down 36-35.

Hall-Dale opened the fourth with free throws by Jess Woods and a jumper by Brann. Jay cut it to 42-40 on scores by Deane and Bonnevie, but Wood hit two more free throws and Skillings scored on a fast break after a block.

Hall-Dale was up 48-42 with 1:02 left after two more Woods’ free throws. Jay got foul shots from Beisaw and Deane. Then Moore got the loose ball after a LeBlanc miss and put in the layup and got fouled to make it 48-47.

“We knew they were going to make a run in the second half,” said Skillings. “We were prepared for it. We weren’t going to get down, and we kept the intensity the whole game.”