Firebaugh leads James Wood girls past Handley

Handley (9-7, 2-4) committed 20 turnovers to Wood’s three and shot a dismal 7 of 31 from the field over the first three quarters of play. The Judges were no better at the free-throw line, connecting on only 10 free throws in 25 attempts over the same period.

“We had a little bit of a letdown in the second half. We had trouble getting rebounds but when you’re the smallest team on the court that’s going to be an issue.”

While Handley struggled on offense, Firebaugh was lighting up the scoreboard, scoring more points than the entire Judges’ team until the final period.

The Colonel sophomore didn’t take long getting started either. Firebaugh hit the first shot of the game, and finished the opening quarter with nine points, three more than Handley’s team.

The Judges couldn’t seem to find the basket in the first period, missing their first seven shots. Taylor Beard (16 points) scored Handley’s only basket of the period, and that was with 10 seconds left on the clock.

Things didn’t change much in the second quarter except that Firebaugh’s teammate Amber Wooldridge began to make her presence felt offensively. The Colonel senior scored six of her 13 points in the period. Firebaugh added another five, including her second 3-pointer.

Although Handley hit only 3 of its 16 field goal attempts in the period, Beard continued to keep the Judges in the game, scoring five of Handley’s eight second-quarter points.

The Judges’ poor showing on offense wasn’t entirely due to a cold shooting night.

Wood’s defense was also a major factor. Handley had trouble handling the Colonel defense the entire first half, committing 13 turnovers in the process. The result was a commanding 27-14 led by the Colonels.

“At times you may not have much control over what’s happening with your offense,” Crites said. “Sometimes you’re shooting well and other times you’re not.

“But there’s no excuse for not hustling and playing hard on defense. We take pride on playing hard on defense. All of our players work hard on defense. That’s been the key to our success.”

The only flaw in Wood’s first half play was fouls. The Colonels committed nine first-half fouls, and Brenna Prunty, who played a huge role in Wood’s success defensively, had two.

“We opened the game up really strong defensively,” said Prunty, who scored nine points. “We were also making plays. In the second half we got a little out of control. But we were able to knock down the shots and make the plays when it mattered.”

After a good start to the second half, Handley drew to within 10 points of Wood thanks to a 3-pointer by Yasmine Newman with 6:12 left in the third quarter. The Colonels, however, answered with an 11-0 run over the next five minutes that left the Judges trailing 40-19.

Firebaugh was again the driving force, scoring nine third-period points.

“We came out ready to play in the first half,” Firebaugh said. “In the second half, we came out kind of flat. We were playing out of control. We just needed to settle down, and start playing our game again. Once we did that we were fine.”

Leading 44-23 with just one period to play, the Colonels slowed down the pace on both ends of the court, allowing the Judges to have their only good quarter of the game offensively.

Beard scored seven points in the fourth quarter. It, however, wasn’t nearly enough to overcome Wood lead.

“There was a big difference at the free-throw line,” said Crites, whose team had nine attempts to Handley’s 25. “But we were still able to come out on top. We’ve had problems with sickness and injuries lately, and for them to come out and get a win tonight was really impressive.”

In addition to her 24 points, Firebaugh added eight rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Savannah Swanner had seven rebounds and five assists.

For Handley, Kiah McFarlane and Neysha Washington each added seven points.