HAMLIN — For two and a half quarters Tuesday night, offense was at a premium in the Region II-1A Division II girls semifinal between No. 14 Jayton and unranked Blackwell at Piper Gymnasium.

Both teams appeared to be trying to fit a basketball through the eye of a needle over that time period before shots finally started to fall for the Lady Jays, who pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 37-17 win, eliminating the Lady Hornets for the second consecutive year in the regional semifinals.

Jayton will face its biggest test of the season at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Abilene Christian University’s Moody Coliseum, where the Lady Jays face top-ranked and undefeated Gordon in the first game of a playoff doubleheader including both schools. The boys game will feature the top two ranked teams in the state in a rematch of a game that was played in front of a standing room only crowd at Wylie’s Bulldog Gymnasium in 2025.