MADISON, Fla. — Even though she was out of breath at the end of the third quarter, there was no way Lafayette’s Jasmine Lewis was coming out of Friday’s district championship game against Hamilton County.

So when Lewis found a break in the action – just before a pair of free throw attempts – she crouched down by her team’s bench, took a few puffs from her inhaler, and then proceeded to carry the Hornets to yet another district championship.

Lewis owned the fourth quarter and scored six points in the final two minutes to guide Lafayette to a 47-41 victory against Hamilton County.

“When I got my breath back, I knew I could go,” Lewis said. “I had to suck it up and do what I had to do.”

Lewis scored 19 of her game-high 23 points in the second half, helping her team overcome a difficult start to pick up the win and earn home-court advantage for the state playoffs. Lafayette outscored HCHS 30-14 in the second half.

A fiery halftime speech from longtime LHS girls basketball coach Jimmy Blankenship got the Hornets motivated to start the third quarter.

“I challenged them at halftime,” Blankenship said. “They accepted the challenge I gave them. I’m so thrilled for them.”

“First half, we played terrible,” Lewis said. “Got yelled at in the locker room. I had to take over.”

Hamilton’s Monique Bryant could not be stopped in the first half. She scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds in the first two quarters as HCHS went up-tempo and looked to push the action in transition. Hamilton slowed down the pace of the game in the second half, and it cost them. Playing a half-court game, HCHS only made seven of its 25 shots in the second half.

“Mayo just outplayed us,” said HCHS coach Gregory Taylor. “We had too many turnovers at the end. We got to play four quarters.”

Bryant finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Keandra Alford scored 11 points for the Trojans.

Bryant and Lafayette’s Haley Ellefson battled foul problems for most of the game. LHS played strong in the final minutes despite losing Ellefson, who fouled out with 3:30 left in the fourth. She recorded nine points and seven rebounds before fouling out.

It was the fourth meeting between Lafayette and Hamilton this season. The season series is now tied at 2-2. Both teams return to action on Thursday. LHS will host Newberry and HCHS will travel to Williston.

If LHS and HCHS win on Thursday, it would set up a fifth and final meeting between the two teams on Feb. 14 in a regional final at Lafayette High School.

The Hornets have won 12 district championships during Blankenship’s 17 years of coaching.

“Just really happy right now. It’s just one step, but we’ll enjoy this,” Blankenship said of Friday’s win. “This will give us a lot of confidence.”