Posted: December 22, 2012
By JERRY HOLSWORTH
Special to The Winchester Star

STEPHENS CITY — After a close first half the James Wood girls’ basketball team erupted for 17 points in the third quarter to pull ahead of Shenandoah Valley Christian Academy before holding off a spirited Patriot comeback to win 46-39 Friday.

“This was a great experience for us,” said Colonel coach Rhonda Slider. “We need to play good teams like Shenandoah Valley so that we can see what we need to work on. I thought we did really well rebounding considering the fact that they have two very good rebounders inside.”

The Colonels (6-3) broke SVCA’s (8-1) eight-game winning streak, but the game was a valuable experience for the Patriots, who don’t face teams with Wood’s speed very often.

“James Wood has a good team and we really enjoyed the competition,” said Patriot coach Lauren Culler. “We have seen teams that play as physical as Wood, but we haven’t faced a team that is nearly as fast as they are. We’re usually the faster team on the court, and that just wasn’t the case tonight. They pushed us hard and we needed that kind of experience to improve our play.” Both teams seemed to be nervous to begin the contest and it showed on the court. Although the Colonels jumped ahead 6-0 early it took them nearly three minutes to convert two field goals. SVCA had even more trouble getting into the flow of the game, hitting their first field goal with 5:09 left in the quarter.

Those numbers continued throughout the quarter. Wood hit just three of its 16 field-goal attempts and the Patriots were just as cold, going just 2 for 16.

With the Colonels holding an 8-5 lead, things began to pick up in the second quarter. Wood expanded its lead to 14-7 thanks to a 4-of-6 performance from the line, but SVCA came roaring back late in the quarter to narrow the Colonel lead to 25-21 by halftime.

As the early butterflies faded the contest turned into a fast-paced defensive struggle that favored Wood. Although the Patriots like to push the pace of the game, they had not experienced anything like the Colonels’ speed on the court.

SVCA had nine turnovers for the first half and after playing the entire first quarter without a foul, had five called on them in the second quarter.

It wasn’t a complete domination, however, as the Colonels struggled against Patriot center Amanda Barlow, who scored repeatedly in the paint to keep her Patriots close. Barlow scored eight of her team-high 12 points in the quarter.

But with the game up for grabs heading into the second half, it was Wood’s team speed that spelled doom for SVCA’s chances for an upset of a Northwestern District team.

Hounding the Patriot guards and crashing the boards relentlessly in the third quarter, the Colonels expanded their lead throughout the quarter.

Trailing 27-22 with 7:14 still left in the third, SVCA guard Hannah McGann nailed a 3-pointer to narrow Wood’s lead to two points. But Colonel guard Keiana Brooks responded with a 3-pointer of her own, sparking a 15-3 run by Wood over the final five minutes of the quarter.

“At halftime we talked about how we needed to finish games, “ Slider said. “We need to put together four quarters. In some of our other away games we’ve come out flat in the first and third quarters. That didn’t happen tonight.”

With the Colonels up 42-28 with just eight minutes to play, it seemed Wood was firmly in control. But SVCA finally adjusted to the Colonels’ fast pace and staged a fourth-quarter comeback that just fell short.

“They have a very good team,” Colonel guard Brooke Nesselrodt said. “They played really well on defense and they were very aggressive. Our coach kept telling us to stay calm and don’t try to rush things. I think that worked well for us.”

After shooting 7 of 13 in the third quarter, the Patriot defense held Wood to just 2 of 15 in the fourth. The result was an amazing 9-2 run by SVCA that drew them to within five at 44-39.

Two things, however, worked against the Patriot comeback. Although Wood’s offense seemed to leave the gym in the fourth quarter, its defense and team speed were still very much in play. Although SVCA narrowed Wood’s lead considerably, it took all but 56 seconds of the fourth quarter to do it.

The final quarter is the worst possible time for a team’s free-throw shooting to go south and the Patriots hit just 1 of 5 from the charity stripe.

“This was a good game,” Patriot guard Samantha Yarnell said. “It was really intense. They are a very fast team, and they really kept us on our toes. I thought that we played well after a little nervousness to begin the game, but I’m never satisfied with a loss.”

Brooks and Morgan Duncan led the Colonels with 12 points each. Whitney Dick and Brooke Nesselrodt added eight points apiece for Wood.

Barlow led SVCA with 12 points, but McGann also scored in double figures for the Patriots, including a pair of 3-pointers.

“I thought that we could have played a lot better,” Barlow said. “We don’t face many public schools and their speed was something we hadn’t seen this year. But it’s just one game and we can’t afford to dwell on it.”