Nighthawk women fall in 2 tourney games in Tennessee

Jackson, Tenn. — National Park College’s women’s basketball team lost both of their games over their weekend at the Lady Green Jay Classic hosted by Jackson State Community College in Tennessee.

The Nighthawks (1-5) fell in the opener, 67-51, on Friday against the host Jackson State (7-4). Sophomore guard Bailey Womack, of Fountain Lake, led the team with 12 points in the loss. She is averaging 11.2 points, five assists and four rebounds per game this season.

National Park College was tied, 34-34, at halftime on Saturday with Dyersburg State Community College (9-6), but the Eagles pulled away for an 87-79 victory. Faith Bratton, of Jessieville, scored

30 points and Womack added 20 points.

Bratton led the team in scoring and rebounding last season. She is averaging 20 points, 6.8 rebounds and five assists per game as a sophomore.

Also in double digits in Hailee Crosby, of Mountain Pine, who previously redshirted at Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia. Crosby averaged 14 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists through the first four games of the season.

The Nighthawks will return home to The Kettle today at 2 p.m. to host Jackson State. A men’s game between the two schools will follow at 4 p.m.

National Park College is undefeated at 8-0 and ranks as one of the top-scoring and most efficient men’s teams on offense in Division II of the National Junior College Athletic Association. The 2018-19 academic year is the first for the school as a member of the NJCAA.

Freshman guard Patrick Greene, out of Wilbur D. Mills in Little Rock, is averaging a team-high 17.3 points per game. He is shooting

52.3 percent from the field and 45.7 percent on 3-pointers.

The Nighthawks are shooting 43.1 percent on 3-pointers as a team. Last year’s leading scorer and rebounder Braylon Steen, a 6-6

continue we’ve got to go take it.

“We’ve got the mentality that we have to go steal whatever it is that we want if we want to continue. It’s not going to be easy; nobody asked it to be. We’re fine with doing something special and extraordinary. Let’s just take it one week at a time, keep competing and keep having fun.”

Filling in for injured starter Carson Wentz, Foles was excellent against the Rams (11-3). He completed 24 of 31 passes for 270 yards. Foles threw an interception but led the offense to its second-highest scoring output this season in his first start since Week 2.

The veteran played with the same poise and confidence he displayed during the 2017 postseason when he stepped in for Wentz and led Philadelphia to its first NFL title since 1960.

“He’s like a point guard in basketball, and he just wants to distribute the ball, doesn’t matter where. He just wants to distribute the ball,” Pederson said. “I think that’s what you see characteristic of great quarterbacks in this league is how well they can do that.

“They don’t get too high. They don’t get too low. They kind of stay right in the middle. If something negative happens in the game, they brush it off and want to come back to it again. They will make it right the next time. Our quarterbacks have that type of demeanor and that is one of Nick’s strengths, obviously, and it showed.”

Pederson said Foles will start this week against the Texans but Wentz will remain on the active roster despite a stress fracture in his back.

“We continue to gather information like we do on all our athletes and all our players,” Pederson said. “The information is favorable and it’s something that was positive for him, positive for us.

“But at the same time, we have to make sure that he’s 100 percent or better before we put him back out there. But right now, he’ll be listed as week to week and we will go from there.”

Pederson and offensive coordinator Mike Groh simplified the game plan before playing the Rams, an idea that originated after a 29-23 overtime loss at Dallas and before it was known Wentz wasn’t going to start.

The Eagles were balanced on offense, running the ball on

30 of 61 offensive plays. They’re

7-0 this season when they have at least 25 running plays and

0-7 when they don’t. Foles connected with Alshon Jeffery eight times for

160 yards, including several passes downfield. That had been missing from Philadelphia’s offense much of the season.

“Nick just did a (heck) of a job of just finding me, just throwing the ball and letting me go out and just make the plays,” Jeffery said.