WINCHESTER — During Senior Night introductions prior to Tuesday night’s girls’ basketball game, part of the summary that accompanied Handley senior Nakayla Armel’s announcement was that she’s interested in a career as an emergency medical technician (EMT).
After the game, the 5-foot-4 guard — who has been accepted to all five colleges she’s applied to — mentioned that while she’s working on her EMT certification, she already has her firefighter certification. It’s a good thing she knows how to extinguish flames, given that she practically started a fire with her shooting in Maddex-Omps Gymnasium on Tuesday.
Handley’s first field goal attempt of the game was a successful Armel 3-pointer, and she went on to hit five shots from beyond the arc in a career-high 23-point performance.
With Reagan Edsell recording 26 points and 20 rebounds, Handley looked a lot more like the team that started the season 12-1 and went on to a 66-31 Class 4 Northwestern District win over James Wood.
The Judges (13-5, 3-2 district) snapped a four-game losing streak with a dominant effort in which they outrebounded James Wood (11-7, 3-3) 57-25 and held the Colonels to 9-of-50 shooting (18 percent) while making 29 of 66 shots themselves. Handley was relentless, closing the game with a 27-5 run over the final 11 minutes and 20 seconds.
“I think this was the confidence-booster that we needed,” Handley coach Katlyn Orndorff said. “They laid it all out there on the floor tonight. I think our slump, I hope, is over, and we’re moving up in the right direction.”
James Wood held a 5-1 lead after one minute and 34 seconds. But Armel hit a 3-pointer with 5:43 to go in the first quarter and hit a two-point jumper with 3:35 remaining in the opening period for a 6-5 lead Handley lead. The Judges would trail again.
Up 16-11 after one quarter, Armel started the scoring in the second quarter with a 3-pointer for a 19-11 lead, part of a 12-point half for Armel.
Armel connected on three 3-pointers against Sherando on Friday to give her a team-best 22 from beyond the arc this season. But on Tuesday, she was on another level, making 5 of 9 3-pointers and 9 of 17 shots overall.
“I was really pumped up because it was Senior Night,” Armel said. “I’m a senior. This is my last year. And I also played for my teammates, too.
“I feel like we had the energy and the motivation tonight, and we put in the effort as a team, and we came together as a team.”
It truly was a team effort. Handley attacked the offensive glass repeatedly to give itself extra opportunities — Armel’s 3-pointer to start the second quarter came off a rebound from Reese Craig. And Handley’s other senior, Olivia Jett, set up a lot of good looks at the basket with her passing, making a few impressive cross-court feeds for assists.
“I’m a team player, so I just love to make sure my teammates are involved in the game, and having a good time,” Jett said.
Jett and the rest of the team enjoyed watching Armel work. Jett assisted Armel’s 3-pointer with 3:20 left in the third quarter that made it 42-26 and started the closing 27-5 run.
“It was really awesome to see her go off tonight,” Orndorff said.
“Makayla played extremely well,” Edsell said. “That’s the thing with our team. Everybody can have a good night.”
Handey’s night was made much better with the return of Edsell. She missed the Judges’ previous two games with injury. She participated in pre-game warmups against Sherando on Friday and wanted to play, but the Judges ultimately decided she shouldn’t come back yet.
On Tuesday, she was her usual all-around force, and she had a hand in the last eight points of the first quarter for the Judges. She scored on a putback with 22 seconds left to make it 14-11 and fed Cameron Hobson for a bucket with two seconds left after she stole the ball for a 16-11 edge.
In the second quarter, Edsell had eight straight rebounds for Handley at one point, had two putbacks, and sank one of her two 3-pointers. She picked up her third foul with 3:29 to go in the second quarter and went to the bench with the Judges up 30-15, but the Colonels couldn’t make a dent. Handley went into the break up 34-19.
Edsell did not pick up another foul while playing almost all of the second half.
“It was very hard to sit and watch,” said Edsell of Handley’s last two games (she also sat most of the fourth quarter one week prior against Millbrook after picking up her fifth foul). “I’m a very competitive player, so sitting on sideline and watching is not my preferred thing to do. It feels great to be back on the court with all these great people.”
The Judges’ enthusiasm showed in their rebounding, which had been a significant issue in their losing streak.
“We emphasized boxing out, getting boards offense and defense,” Edsell said. “I think we executed pretty well.”
Wood’s Josie Russell (eight rebounds) executed at a high level in the first half with 14 of her 18 points, hitting all six of her free-throw attempts in the first quarter. But the Colonels couldn’t hit shots, and they struggled to rebound and challenge shooters in their zone.
“We’ve been preaching boxing out probably the whole entire season,” James Wood coach Sanford Silver said. “You’ve got to eliminate second- and third-chance opportunities, and I thought [Handley] did very well on the boards. I kind of knew Edsell would hit the mid-range shot, and we wanted to try to cover it, but we just didn’t rotate well enough.”
Craig had six points and Hobson had five for Handley, and Maddie Shirley had nine points for Wood.
Both Handley (at Hampshire, West Virginia) and James Wood (at Fauquier) are in action on Wednesday. On Friday, the Colonels host Millbrook while Handley travels to Skyline.
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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