Girl's Basketball - Judges 47, Colonels 40

Posted: February 12, 2014
By MARK SAWYER
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Between the boys’ and girls’ basketball games against James Wood Tuesday night, the Handley High School Athletic Association recognized and honored all of the Judges’ seniors.

And though the lone senior on the Handley girls’ team, Scarlett Hutchins, had a solid game and will never forget her final contest at Maddex-Omps Gymnasium, it was super sophomore Alysandra Worrell who once again stole the spotlight.

Worrell scored a game-high 23 points and was the difference down the stretch, leading the Judges to a confidence-building 47-40 Northwestern District victory over the Colonels.

It was the second time the Judges beat Wood this season, and by the exact same score as their win two weeks earlier.

“Definitely a big win, especially on senior night. We wanted to win this one for our only senior Scarlett,” Worrell said. “It wasn’t just for her, we wanted to prove that we didn’t get lucky [in the first game].

“We’re pretty confident right now. This is exactly what we needed, to prove we can beat a team twice. I think we’re ready [for the conference tournament].”

In the final minute of play Worrell didn’t just control the game, she dominated it.

Leading 41-40 with 50 seconds showing on the clock, Worrell had an opportunity to add to the Judges’ lead when she stepped to the free-throw line, but she missed the front end.

However, the rebound was tipped out of bounds and awarded to the Judges. Instead of hanging her head, Worrell took the inbound pass, made a couple quick moves and kissed a shot off the backboard and into the net for a three-point lead with 41 seconds to play.

Wood was unable to connect on a shot at the other end to close the gap and Worrell erased the previous miss at the line from her mind by going 4 for 4 from the charity stripe over the final 20 seconds to ice the win.

“Alysandra was the tale of the tape.” Handley coach Marvin Scott said. “Here’s a kid that I don’t have to tell her that she’s one of the best players in this district or this conference. She goes out and she shows it.

“I have to give the team credit on that down the stretch. They were very committed, they knew where to go and we didn’t see any bad decisions in the last two minutes and I think that was the key.”

Hutchins started her final home game off on the right foot when she buried a 3-pointer to start the scoring less then a minute into the contest, but points would prove to be hard to come by in the first eight minutes for both teams.

Handley (4-13, 3-5 Northwestern District) turned the ball over six times in the first period and Wood had seven of its own while both teams missed nine shots.

There were nearly as many fouls called as points scored, but the Judges managed to hold a slim 8-7 advantage after one quarter of play.

As tough as points were to come by in the first period it was just the opposite in the second, at least early on.

Wood (12-9, 2-6) came out in the second quarter on fire. Junior Danielle Rizzari hit a short jumper to give the Colonels their first lead of the game and the next trip down the floor senior Brooke Nesselrodt drilled a 3-pointer to make it 12-8.

After Worrell cut the lead back to two, Rizzari got hot from beyond the arc for the Colonels. On back-to-back trips down the floor she nailed consecutive 3-pointers to extend the lead to 18-10 for Wood's biggest of the night.

However, the Judges clawed their way back into it on a layup by Worrell and a three-point play from sophomore Madison Woodson, whose free throw made it 18-15.

Handley eventually tied the game at 20-20 on a 3-pointer by Angelica Robinson and was able to recapture the lead at 24-23 heading into halftime.

In another low-scoring quarter the Colonels were able to outscore the Judges 7-5 in the third and took a 30-29 lead into the final eight minutes of play.

Both teams hit some huge shots in the fourth quarter with the game on the line and for the Judges it wasn’t Worrell doing the damage this time, at least not until the final minute of the game.

Handley scored the first three points of the quarter for a 32-30 advantage before Wood’s Whitney Dick hit a baseline jumper to knot it up again at 32.

The Judges then got back-to-back field goals from Taneisha Walker and Hutchins to grab a 36-32 lead.

Following a James Wood timeout, Nesselrodt looked as if she stole the momentum back for the Colonels when she knocked down her third 3-pointer of the game, making it 36-35.

Unfortunately for the Colonels, Hannah Long had the answer for the Judges and she drained a 3-pointer of her own to push the lead back to four (39-35) with 4:11 to play.

Trailing 41-37 and without the ball with just over two minutes left in the game, things looked bleak for the Colonels, but a steal and a fastbreak layup by Keiana Brooks made it 41-39 and Wood got it right back when the Judges turned it over on the other end of the floor.

The Colonels had a golden opportunity to tie the game up with 1:16 left to play but were only able to hit 1 of 2 from the line, leaving them down 41-40 and setting the stage for Worrell to take over the game.

Predictably in a close game free throws were a major factor.

Though Handley only made two more free throws in the fourth quarter, Wood made only 10 of 20 for the game and several came at very costly times.

On the other hand, the Judges made 12 of 17 for the game, 5 of 7 in the fourth quarter and 4 of 5 in the last minute of the win.

“Ten of 20 from the free throw line, that's the difference in the ball game,” Wood coach Krista Cates said. “Defensively we did OK, behind the arc we did OK. Rebounding we didn’t crash the boards and we gave up 18 points in the fourth quarter, you can’t do that.

“Regular season is finished, Friday’s a new day and we’ll be ready to play. We’ll be ready to play whoever we come across. I think our defense is right where it needs to be, we’ve got to get the offense rolling with it.”

James Wood hit a season-high six 3-pointers in the game, three each by Rizzari and Nesselrodt. Rizzari led the way for the Colonels with a team-high 14 points, while Nesselrodt finished with 11.

Worrell was the only Judge in double figures, as Hannah Long chipped in with seven points and Hutchins finished off her home career with six.