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By Brent Maze | The Selma Times-Journal

SELMA — Jemison coach Kelsey Mims doesn’t know when the last time the Lady Panthers made the playoffs in girls basketball.

Whatever length that streak is, it’s finally over.

Jemison broke open a close game after halftime to defeat Demopolis 47-34 at Selma High School in the Class 5A, Area 5 girls semifinals Monday night. They will now play homestanding Selma in the girls championship game Wednesday at 5 p.m. The Lady Saints defeated Montevallo 76-18 in the nightcap Monday.

Mims said it means a lot to the school to get the chance to make it out of area play.

“My coaches, our principal and I were talking about it, and we didn’t know how long it had been,” Mims said. “You have to go back 15 or 20 years to find the last time this girls program made it out of area. So it’s a big deal to our program and our school to be able to do that because it’s not been done in a very long time.”

During the game, Jemison’s Zariyah Johnson reached a milestone, scoring her 1,000th point, Mims said. Johnson scored 11 of her 17 points in the second half to pace the Lady Panthers.

Trinity Bean also made a quartet of treys to finish with 15 points while Braelyn Bradford added 11 points. Chloe Calloway and Coiana Lucas also chipped in buckets for the Lady Panthers.

Demopolis’ Ashianna McNealy led all scorers with 23 points while Shae Murphey added nine points. Hadley Stacy and Madisyn Harris also added free throws for the Lady Tigers.

Mims knew the game was going to be tight after the teams split in the regular season. Jemison held an 8-6 lead after the first quarter and then led 16-13 at halftime.

However, the Lady Panthers got some separation in the third quarter, outshooting Demopolis 17-10 to take a 33-23 into the final stanza. The Lady Panthers put the game away with a 14-11 advantage down the stretch to take the 13-point win.

“Like we won at our place; they won at their place, but we thought that even though we lost at their place, we had a pretty good game plan in the second half of what we needed to do. They came in and got us in a little bit of foul trouble in the first half, which hindered us a little bit. But we were able to come out in the second half, put the game plan together and you know, get up and hold on.”

Jemison faces Selma High School in the area tournament final on Feb. 5 at 5 p.m. at Selma High School.

Jemison’s varsity boys team begins their area tournament on Feb. 4 at Selma High School facing Montevallo High School in the semifinals at 5 p.m. The varsity boys championship game is scheduled for after the varsity girls on Feb. 5.