Skyline girls shut down James Wood

February 4, 2012
By KEVIN TRUDGEON

WINCHESTER- What had already been a long, rough week for the James Wood girls' basketball team did not get any better Friday evening.

After getting outscored by a combined 113 points in losses to Millbrook and Tuscarora on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Colonels learned that longtime assistant coach Tom Pollack had lost his battle with cancer on Thursday.

Hosting Skyline on senior night just a day later, James Wood struggled from the outset and was never in an 82-50 loss at Shirley Gymnasium.

"It was very difficult," said James Wood coach Rhonda Slider when asked about playing just a day after Pollack, who had served as the James Wood JV coach and varsity assistant for the past nine years, had passed.

"We had a long week. We played Millbrook [on Tuesday], then we went down to play Tuscarora [on Wednesday], then we got back [Thursday] and got the news of what happened and then we had to come in here tonight and play again."

There was a moment of silence before the game and Pollack's wife, Patty, and children, Craig and Gillian, were recognized. Once the game began, though, it was obvious that it wasn't the Colonels' night.

Guard Sarah Callaham, one of three seniors on the team along with Miranda Moore and Kaitlin Duncan who were honored in a ceremony between the girls' and boys' games, hit one of two free throws to give James Wood (9-11, 1-6 Northwestern District) its only lead of the game at 1-0.

Skyline's Taylor Henry fed teammate Oshene Kelly for a layup on the following possession and then proceeded to score six straight points in a sign of things to come.

The Colonels would have no answer for the Hawks' two seniors, who combined for 62 points (Henry had a career-high 38 while Kelly finished with 24 and 15 rebounds).

When Henry wasn't driving to the basket or pulling up from the free-throw line, she was feeding Kelly underneath.

After James Wood cut the deficit to 31-26 on a 3-pointer from sophomore Brooke Nesselrodt (nine points on three 3-pointers) midway through the second quarter, Skyline (12-8, 1-6) went on a 18-0 run that spanned the end of the second and beginning of the third to put the game out of reach.

Henry and Kelly combined for 16 points in the decisive run.

"Taylor [Henry] was hot and Oshene [Kelly] was a monster for us tonight," said Skyline coach Jim Kenney. "We've been playing well the last couple games and I thought we continued that tonight. The first quarter was a little back and forth, but I thought we did a really good job in the second quarter and just got going."

The Colonels trailed 41-26 at halftime and 59-24 after three quarters, but Slider said she knew it was going to be a tough night for her team.

"We're playing with a heavy heart for Coach Pollack," Slider said. "I just told them [before the game] that Coach Pollack is watching and he would want nothing less than for us to go out and hustle and give it our all.

"We were a little flat early on, but we played the best we could. [Skyline] outplayed us tonight, that's all. All I could ask from them was that they worked hard and they did that. We'll get back at it in practice and see if we can make some adjustments and get ready for Handley [on Tuesday]."

Sophomore Whitney Dick finished with a team-high 11 points for the Colonels. The Pollack family was given the game ball at the conclusion of the game.

James Wood's non-district game against Stonewall Jackson that was scheduled for today has been canceled and the district finale against Handley has been moved from Monday to Tuesday.

The JV game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., with the varsity game to follow at 7:30 p.m.

- Contact Kevin Trudgeon at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.