Handley Girls Rally For 61-59 Win Over Colonels

Posted: January 3, 2015
By MARK SAWYER
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Judging from the early season success of both the Handley and James Wood girls’ basketball teams (a combined 15 wins in 18 games), their first meeting of the season Friday night was bound to be a dogfight.

In the first half James Wood’s defense held Handley junior standouts Alysandra Worrell and Angelica Robinson to 14 points and built a 13-point lead in the second quarter.

However, a dominating third quarter by the Judges completely turned the game around. Robinson scored 20 of her game-high 25 points in the second half and Handley rallied for a 61-59 Northwestern District victory over the Colonels at Wood’s Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium.

When asked what happened James Wood coach Krista Crites summed it up simply.

“The third quarter happened. We beat them all the other quarters. The third quarter killed us,” Crites said. “We didn’t box out and we didn’t get any second shots.

“We shut down Alysandra and Angelica in the first half and we didn’t in the second. That’s what happens when you don’t shut them down. We came out lazy and got outscored 25-9. We didn’t play defense. Give credit to them.”

Down 28-17 at the break, the Judges (10-2 overall, 2-1 Northwestern District) came out like a different team in the second half, and a lot of that was the presence of Robinson, who sat out the entire second quarter in foul trouble.

Handley freshman Taneisha Walker hit a free throw and senior Miriah Smith drilled a 3-pointer to start the second half and pull Handley to within 28-21.

James Wood (6-2, 0-1) got a layup from Sarah Johnson to push the lead back to nine (30-21) before the Judges raced back into the game.

Handley scored the next seven points to trim the deficit to two (30-28). Smith got an offensive rebound and scored to start the run. Walker hit a layup and Robinson nailed a long 3-pointer to close out the run.

The Judges were far from done in the quarter and finished the frame with a 14-7 run to grab a 42-37 advantage heading into the final eight minutes.

“The second half we came out with more intensity and composure,” Robinson said. “At halftime we talked about needing to execute and fixing our passing problems.”

Robinson scored 12 points in the third quarter and helped the Judges outscore Wood 25-9 to regain the lead.

However, the Colonels had no intention of giving up and they fought back early in the fourth to tie the game with just over five minutes left to play.

Wood junior Keiana Brooks hit a short jumper to open the quarter and senior Danielle Rizzari hit a pair of free throws to pull the Colonels to within one at 42-41.

With 5:26 left in the game Rizzari buried a long 3-pointer that tied the game up 46-46. The Colonels never regained the lead but they made the Judges fight until the final buzzer.

Robinson scored the next four points to stake Handley to a five-point lead (55-50) with 2:08 left in the game.

Once again the Colonels fought back with a pair of free throws from senior Kaitlyn Crane and two more from classmate Morgan Duncan to cut the deficit to 55-54 with 1:12 left.

Worrell pushed the Handley lead back to three, but the Colonels had a couple of great opportunities to regain the lead.

With 0:43 left Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to trim the deficit to 57-56.

The next two times the Colonels had the ball they still trailed by one but couldn’t take the lead.

The first possession the Colonels missed a pair of free throws and the next trip down the floor resulted in a Wood turnover.

Taking full advantage of catching a break, the Judges pushed the lead back to five on a fast-break layup by Robinson and a short jumper by Walker off another Colonel turnover for a 61-56 cushion with 0:12 left in the game.

Brooks drilled a long 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.

“It really hurt having to sit Angelica in the first half. She picked up two fouls quickly and we missed her presence,” first-year Handley coach Randi Jones said. “Our turnovers were a huge difference. In the first half we just threw the ball all over the place. In the second half we were confident and composed and we just kept chipping away at the lead.

“We’ve played from behind before this season and I’ve been so proud of our effort with that. We’ve been able to battle back against teams and we just need to be confident in ourselves. James Wood is a very good team and this was a very good win for us. We know no one expects much from us and nothing is going to be given to us — we have to go out and earn everything.”

In addition to Robinson’s game-high 25 points, Worrell scored 10 second-half points and finished with 19, and Smith added nine for the Judges.

Brooks led the way for the Colonels with 20 points off the bench, and Rizzari added 13.