James Wood girls gain piece of conference crown

By MARK SAWYER | Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — No matter what the situation is, what the circumstances are, what season or sport it is, when Handley and James Wood play you can throw the records out the window.

That was the case once again Friday night when the two schools got together in the Conference 21 West girls’ basketball finale for both squads at Handley’s Hunter-Maddox Gymnasium.

Needing to beat two-win Judges (a team they whipped by 22 points earlier this season), to claim at least a share of the conference regular-season title, the Colonels seemed a huge favorite to tie for first place with Sherando.

However, the Judges had other things in mind and played arguably their best game of the season, even holding a slim lead midway through the third quarter.

The upset was not to be. Wood outscored Handley 25-13 over the last 11/2 quarters and rallied past the Judges 47-36.

The Colonels (4-1) and Sherando (4-1) share first, with Wood owning the tiebreaker over the Warriors. The two could be joined if Millbrook (3-1) beats Woodgrove on Wednesday and a coin flip would be used to break the tie.

“A win is a win,”James Wood coach Krista Cates said. “The first half was pretty rough but I attribute that to Handley. They came out ready to play, they came out aggressive and they took us out of our game a little bit. The second half we came out ready to play and made the shots we needed to and played much better defense.

“(A conference championship) is pretty big. It’s something that hasn’t happened at James Wood for a long time. It’s something that they’re proud of.”

Trailing 23-22 with 4:01 remaining in the third quarter, James Wood (13-7, 4-3 Northwestern District) found another gear on offense which had struggled with turnovers and missed shots all evening long.

Hannah Burke hit a layup with 2:51 left in the third to give the Colonels the lead for good at 24-23. Less than a minute later Hannah Arnold converted a steal into a layup and was fouled. Her free throw extended the lead to 27-23, which was the Colonels’ largest of the game at the time.

Following a Wood timeout junior Karmen Grimes (team high 13 points off the bench) buried a 3-pointer, her fourth of the night, to increase the lead to 30-23 and the offensive struggles were done.

Wood finished the third quarter on a 10-1 run and turned a one-point deficit into an eight-point lead with one quarter remaining.

“It was a tough game for us obviously but we’re still tied for first and we’ve come a long ways from where we’ve been in the past,” Burke said. “We had a really good halftime pep talk. I think when we came back out we just tried to stay positive and we did the little things to boost our confidence a little and keep us going.”

The Colonels continued their run by scoring the first five points of the fourth quarter and moving the lead into double figures. Makayla Firebaugh, who spent most of the first and third quarters on the bench with foul trouble, converted a three-point play with 5:11 left gave the Colonels a 37-24 lead.

Handley (2-17, 0-5 conference, 0-7 district) had more than their share of opportunities to pull the upset but inexperience worked against the Judges in the end. Critical turnovers and missed shots, but the Judges lost their easiest chances at the foul line. Handley made just 10-of-29 free throws and were 6-for-14 in the fourth quarter.

The Judges stormed out of the locker room to start the game and jumped out to a 6-0 lead behind a basket by Kiah McFarlane and a pair by Neysha Washington. Though the lead disappeared, the Judges were tied 18-18 at the halftime break.

“I think that was one of the most complete games that we’ve played and it’s crazy that we lost by 11”, Handley coach Randi Jones said. “I’m so proud of our effort. I have nothing to be upset about. We played well, we fought, and honestly for us it help with morale and this like a victory for us. We can build upon this and continue to build and get better.”

Walker finished with a game high 14 points to lead the Judges. McFarlane and Taylor Beard each finished with seven.

Firebaugh added nine points for the Colonels.