Warrior Girls Avenge Loss To Colonels, 51-43

Posted: January 29, 2016
By WALT MOODY

STEPHENS CITY — Sherando’s Madison Leckie glanced toward the rafters during the fourth quarter of Thursday’s girls’ basketball clash against James Wood and didn’t like the numbers she saw.

The Colonels had whittled a six-point Warriors lead to two on Senior Night and she wasn’t about to let the game slip away.

“I just had to get it done,” Leckie said. “I just kept looking at that scoreboard and said, ‘No, it’s not happening. It’s going to get done.’”

Leckie scored eight of her 14 points in the quarter and Davina Lane added five of her game-high 21 as the Warriors avenged an earlier loss with a 51-43 triumph over James Wood.

“It was a very important win for us and a great team win,” said Leckie, one of four seniors on the roster. “It was the best team win on Senior Night I could ever ask for. It really means a lot.”

The Warriors lost 49-41 earlier this month to the Colonels in a game that did not count in the Conference 21A standings. On Thursday, Sherando (11-6 overall, 2-1 conference, 3-2 Northwestern District) frustrated the two players that hurt it the most in that defeat.

Employing a gadget box-and-one defense named “Spear,” they were able to cut off the driving lanes for Wood’s Keiana Brooks, who had 21 points in the first meeting.

“We knew that we had to keep her from penetrating,” Sherando coach Mike Marsh said. “We had someone in her face the whole time and it kind of took her out of the game.”

As a byproduct, the ball didn’t get inside to Grace Greene, who had 13 points against the Warriors earlier this season.

“She hurt us big-time too, the first game we played them,” Marsh said. “She’s a tough player because she’s so physical inside.”

Brooks did not make a basket until midway through the third quarter and finished with 10 points. Greene only got two shots and did not score.

“Those two were the ones that we needed to shut down,” Leckie said. “Everyone did their job and did what they needed to do.”

Wood coach Krista Crites said her team should be used to the attention devoted to Brooks.

“Every team we play focuses on Keiana,” she said. “Obviously, she didn’t have the greatest game. It’s not a new thing for us. We had to have different players step up and score.”

She was disappointed her team didn’t use Greene as an option.

“They doubled down on her, but we didn’t do our job of getting her the ball,” Crites said. “... We didn’t even try to get her the ball. They made the changes they needed to make and they came out with a win.”

The contest was the first for the two teams since Winter Storm Jonas blanketed the region with between two and three feet of snow starting last Friday.

And it showed as both teams were rusty and misfiring from the start. The contest was tied 18-18 at the half with neither team shooting better than 31 percent.

Lane was the one exception as she scored 10 points in the opening half, continuing her late-season surge.

“She’s really focusing in and she’s fell into her game,” Marsh said of the speedy junior guard. “She’s comfortable attacking the rim and she’s also very comfortable stepping back and shooting the jump shot. Now that she has that confidence, she takes what you give her.

“We’re starting to play harder teams so we have to pick it up,” Lane explained of her improved play. “I’m one of the leaders on the team so everyone focuses their energy off of me. So, I have to have a lot of energy.”

Amanda Christian nailed a 3-pointer out of the half to give Wood the lead at 21-18. The Colonels were still ahead 28-26 until Lane had four points and Allison Combs had three in a 7-0 run that closed the quarter and gave the Warriors the lead for good.

Brooks ignited the Colonels in the fourth quarter, with three steals leading to her own baskets. Her assist on Christian’s 3-pointer cut the deficit to 39-37 with 31/2 minutes left and had Leckie eyeing the scoreboard.

Leckie then had four points in a 10-3 run that put the game away.

“We just kept saying, ‘We have to D-up and finish it,’” Leckie said. “We stuck to it.”

Sherando, which didn’t shoot a free throw in the first half, went 11 for 19 in the second half, including 8 for 16 in the final quarter.

“We’re fighters,” Lane said. “We really wanted to win.”

Crites said her club never found its rhythm. “We just didn’t show up,” she said. “Being off a week and practicing just one day, we were totally and completely out of sync all around. Sherando came ready to play and we did not.”

Christian led the Colonels (10-5, 1-4 conference, 2-3 district) with 12 points, all coming on four 3-pointers. Karmen Grimes gave them a big scoring lift with nine points, including seven in the second quarter.

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