Posted: January 19, 2013
By MARK SAWYER
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Looking at the Northwestern District standings it was easy to see how important the girls’ basketball game between James Wood and Handley would be.

The two rivals were tied for third and needed a win to stay within range of front-running Sherando and second-place Millbrook.

However, it would be just as easy to understand that third place was the last thing on the minds of James Wood’s players and sophomore guard Kaitlyn Crane.

Crane’s older brother Hunter, a senior football player at Wood, was tragically killed in a single-car accident on Tuesday afternoon.

Dealing with more than any 15-year-old should ever have to deal with, Crane not only played against the Judges — but she turned in the best game of her life.

Crane started and scored a career-high 15 points, helping the Colonels defeat the Judges 53-45 to move into sole possession of third place at Wood’s Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium. “I was just pretty much playing for my brother,” said Crane, who wore a white sweatband with her brother’s name in red on her right wrist. “It was probably the best game I’ve ever played. I was just playing for my brother. He definitely would’ve wanted us to win and play hard like we did.

“I feel like we really came together [tonight]. Moved the ball, played good [defense] — it was just an all around good game.”

Handley (8-7, 1-3 Northwestern) started quickly when freshman Alysandra Worrell took the opening tip all the way to the hoop and converted a layup to open the game, but the first quarter belonged to the Colonels.

Wood (10-5. 2-2) tied the game on a short jumper by junior Whitney Dick. Twenty seconds later, Crane gave the Colonels the lead for good when she made a steal near midcourt, headed up floor and laid it up and in. She was fouled on the play and her free throw made it 5-2 early.

It was the start of a 10-0 run that gave the home team an eight-point advantage just three minutes into the game.

With the Judges struggling offensively with missed shots and turnovers, the Colonels continued to add to the lead until another short jumper by Dick made it 19-4 with just over three minutes left in the opening frame. The Colonels extended their lead to 16 (24-8) by the end of the period.

Dick scored eight first-period points to lead the Colonels but Crane was right behind with seven.

“Probably the best game I’ve ever seen her play,” James Wood coach Rhonda Slider said of Crane. “She was outstanding, she was on fire. I can’t be prouder of her. I know she had a lot on her mind. To pull it together and have a game like that is amazing. She was on a mission tonight.

“It was very tough to get ready for this game tonight. It’s a basketball game and what we’ve been going through the last couple of days is bigger than basketball and these girls stuck together. They’re there for each other and they’ve supported each other.

“This is a very heart- wrenching situation to be in and when it’s somebody on your team you have to be strong for them. Basketball was not the first priority, the first priority was Kaitlyn and her family and they wanted to come out and play hard for other reasons than just winning a basketball game.”

Over the first few minutes, the Colonels were able to extend the lead to as many as 18 points on two different occasions, the second when Crane hit a pair of free throws with 3:16 left in the half to make it 33-15.

Following the free throws, Handley coach Marvin Scott called a timeout and the Judges responded.

Freshmen Hannah Long scored on the next trip down the floor starting a 10-2 run — the last eight points all by Worrell — to end the half, cutting the deficit to ten (35-25) and getting the Judges back in the contest.

“Lack of intensity and lack of focus,” Scott said. “Saying you’re ready to play basketball and actually going out there and playing are two different things. We can applaud the effort but sometime the effort has to show progression. Poor decision making, we panicked. We just need to slow down sometimes and trust each other. I see good things.

“They never gave up, kept coming and coming and coming but you have to have a method to the madness. We played hard and there’s a lot of good but the bad things are the ones that are hurting us.

“I think we’re a better basketball team then what we’re showing. Those kids [James Wood] came out to win. They came out tonight to play basketball and beat Handley — and that’s what they did. I make no excuses for my players or my coaching staff, we got outplayed.”

Neither team shot well from the line but it stands out more when you lose. Handley shot just 11 for 23 from the line, while the Colonels were 12 for 21. Handley also committed 41 turnovers.

With the lone senior Erica Hepner out for the season because of a knee injury, Wood had only nine healthy players on the night. All nine James Wood players factored in the scoring.

In addition to Crane’s big night, Dick also reached double figures with 12 points (10 in the first half) and Brooke Nesselrodt chipped in with seven.

Handley was led by Worrell’s game-high 18 points and another double-double by classmate Angelica Robinson, who registered 12 points and 22 rebounds.