The Carolina Jazz made sweet music on Saturday as they rode a second-quarter scoring flurry to an 11-9 victory over the Carolina Magic  in the eight-10-year old division of the Washington Youth Basketball League.
The Jazz fell behind 2-0 early, but erupted for six points in the second quarter to take the lead and hold on to victory.
Tiana Hopkins led the way for the Jazz (2-1) as she scored a game-high eight points, six of which came during that pivotal second quarter.
“Tiana is the captain of our team and she averages about 12 points a game,” said Jazz assistant coach Cynthia Qualls. “She’s in the fifth grade and she loves basketball.”
Jazz head coach Marquita Parker said overall she was happy with the play of her team.
“They played together and they played hard,” Parker said. “It was a close game.”
The Magic (0-3) got off to a quick start and took a 2-0 lead when Patrianna Bryant converted a shot attempt early in the first quarter.
The Magic gave a sturdy defensive effort and held on to that lead until Hopkins got hot in the second.
After going into halftime down 6-2, the Magic fell behind 7-2 when the Jazz’s Ashley Moore went 1-2 from the free throw line in the third quarter.
The Magic answered later in the quarter with a layup by Jaquaisa Borden that cut the deficit to 7-4 heading into the fourth.
Borden would end the game with a team-high seven points.
“She’s a good point guard,” Magic coach Willie Williams said. “She needs to work on her dribbling a little bit and figure out what direction she wants to go, but she’s a good guard and a big threat on offense and defense.”
Borden nearly willed her team to victory as she poured in five points in the final quarter, but the Jazz responded with buckets by Tiana Hopkins and Zentira Hopkins to keep the Magic at bay.
“Our offense didn’t quite pick up the way we wanted it to in the beginning,” Williams said. “But it’s these girls first year playing and they are getting the experience they need. Each game they’re learning, it just takes time. Defensively, we played well. We just needed to make baskets.”
The Jazz played strong defense throughout the game as well, but Qualls said there is always room for improvement.
“The defense was pretty good, but we could have had our hands up a little more,” Qualls said. “But for the most part it was pretty good.”

Magic    2    0    2    5    —    9
Jazz    0    6    1    4    —    11
Magic (9)
Patrianna Bryant 2, Jaquaisa Borden 7
Jazz (11)
Tiana Hopkins 8, Ashley Moore 1, Zentira Hopkins 2.