THOMASVILLE — The Thomas County Central Lady Jackets took down the Lakeside Panthers Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the playoffs. The Yellow Jacket fans were buzzing as the team put on an electrifying offensive performance. Head Coach Tony Voyles said it’s all about the teams mentality.

“We’ve talked about mentality a lot of times this year,” he said. “I’ve told this team for two or three years now that they have so much talent and so much ability on the field that if they can get their head right and their mentality right with the things they do on the field that it could be something special and it really seems to be coming around.”

Central started off the scoring early as the teams leading scorer Bailey Maroney put the ball in the back of the net just six minutes into the game. Riley Fisher would follow that up with a goal of her own. After being fouled in the box, Fisher took advantage of a penalty kick and scored to put the Lady Jackets up by two.

Central did not relinquish possession often in the first half. The ball rarely traveled to the Lady Jackets defensive side of the field and, when it did, the back line was right there to send it back.

“The whole team did the job that we talked about and worked on in training,” said Voyles. “They were organized, they shifted when they needed to, the attacking players ran with their players when they needed to. So, defensively an incredible job.”

Lakeside responded with a goal of their own to cut the lead to one. The Lady Jackets wouldn’t let that stand for long, however. Late in the first half Fisher would find Addie Vickers on a perfect pass that led to a goal. 3-1 Lady Jackets.

The second half started off sour for Central as Mikayla Voyles took a hard kicked ball to the torso, one of several hard shots she’d already taken. After spending some time on the ground, Voyles would leave the game. She returned moments later.

Lakeside was able to present an offensive threat in the first minutes of the second half, but the Lady Jackets defense stood strong. Less than ten minutes into the half, the ball would find its way back onto Centrals offensive end and on the foot of Maroney. Maroney was able to chase the ball down into the box and fire it in for her second goal of the contest. Only a few minutes later, Maroney would score once again off an assist from Vickers, giving her the hat trick.

Lakeside would threaten to score several times late in the half, but the Lady Jackets defense continued to stand strong until the final horn. Central held a tight grip on their four goal lead and won the contest 5-1. Maroney finished the game with three goals, while Vickers and Fisher had one goal a piece. Fisher also had two assists in the game.

With the 5-1 win, the Lady Jackets will meet undefeated Marist in the second round of the playoffs on April 19. That match will be an away game for the Lady Jackets in Atlanta.