Arnold, Firebaugh lead Wood past Wolverines

Jerry Holsworth Special to The Star

WINCHESTER — James Wood used a flurry of 3-pointers and a tenacious zone defense to jump ahead early on Woodgrove, then converted from the free throw line to fight off the Wolverines 67-52 in the Conference 21 West girls’ basketball opener for both teams.

Hannah Arnold had 24 points and Makayla Firebaugh added 22 for the Colonels (1-1), who bounced back from an overtime loss against Martinsburg in their opener.

“We talked a lot more tonight than we did in the first game,” Colonels coach Krista Crites said. “We moved the ball around a lot better, too, and we played well on defense. We need to do a better job rebounding. We were much smaller than Woodgrove and I thought we were able to hold our own, though.”

James Wood started the game with five quick points while the Wolverines couldn’t get a good shot against the Colonels defense. Two free throws by Hannah Arnold and a 3-pointer by Amber Wooldridge put James Wood up 5-0 just two minutes into the game.

“We have some good shooters on this team,” Crites said. “And as good as they played tonight they are a lot better than that.”

The Colonel defense held the Wolverines to just 2 of 13 from the field in the quarter, and caused eight turnovers. After Jordan Wick narrowed Wood’s lead to 5-2, Firebaugh and Wooldridge hit back-to-back 3s that left the Wolverines trailing 11-3.

The Colonel duo’s pair of 3-pointers led an 11-0 run by Wood that put them up 16-2 with 1:50 left in the opening period. Woodgrove’s Jenna Dunn hit the final bucket of the quarter, but the Colonels still headed into the second period with a commanding 16-4 lead.

“We were really hitting our shots in the first quarter, and we were playing really good defense too,” Arnold said.

The Wolverines (0-2) countered Wood’s early dominance by becoming physical in the paint where they had a sizable advantage. The tactic worked but it also resulted in numerous fouls that gave the Colonels the chance to counter with good foul shooting.

Woodgrove made just 3 of 22 field goals in the second quarter, but still managed to narrow the Colonels’ lead to 26-20 with 1:01 left in the first half. Lily Forrester and Madi White were Woodgrove’s main weapons combining for 12 second-period points.

Firebaugh answered the Wolverine’s resurgence with three points over the final minute of the first half to expand the lead to 29-20 at the halftime break.

The third quarter was even more physical as both teams battled fiercely in the paint for rebounds and on defense. The result was 15 third-period fouls and a combined 24 free throws by both teams.

The Colonels got the better end of it, sinking 13 of their 16 attempts, including 7-of-7 by Arnold after the Wood senior was fouled and the Woodgrove bench committed two technical fouls. Of her game high 24 points, 15 came at the line.

“I’ve never hit seven straight free throws like that,” Arnold said.

Wood’s success at the line helped them expand its lead to 49-33 heading into the final period.

Woodgrove, thanks to their 10 third-quarter fouls, had three starters with four fouls each with eight minutes still to play. The Wolverines didn’t change their tactics though and committed another eight fouls in the final period.

This time it was Firebaugh who took advantage of the situation. The Colonels freshman hit 8 of 10 free throws in the period and half of her 22 points came on free throws.

“We did a great job from the foul line,” Crites said. “We hit 76 percent, and that’s excellent for this time of year.”

Amanda Christian had a good night for the Colonels scoring nine points, including two 3-pointers.

Wick led the Wolverines with 12 points, while White added 11.

“I think we played hard from start to finish,” Wolverines coach Kevin Copley said. “I didn’t think we shot the ball well but James Wood had a lot to do with that. It’s still early though.”