Firebaugh returns from injury to propel James Wood past Sherando

STEPHENS CITY — In the midst of missing her second straight game on Tuesday against Fauquier, James Wood senior guard Makayla Firebaugh told head coach Krista Crites, “Man, I want to be in.”

The NCAA Division I Rider University signee sure showed that on Friday against Frederick County rival Sherando.

Firebaugh scored a game-high 27 points as the Colonels beat the Warriors 55-37 in Firebaugh’s first game action since leaving the season opener against Clarke County on Dec. 5 shortly into the second half because of an injury.

Firebaugh scored nine of her points in the first quarter as James Wood (3-1, 2-0 Class 4 Northwestern District) jumped out to a 20-4 lead en route to a 25-10 edge after one quarter. The Colonels hit their last 10 shots of the first period (11 of 14 overall).

She then played a huge role in helping put the Warriors (2-4, 0-2) away in the third quarter, scoring 10 points as the Colonels went on a 17-2 run that expanded their lead from 33-23 at the half to 50-25 with 3:14 left in the third quarter.

“I was really wanting to come back, especially since it’s a rival school,” said Firebaugh, who was held out of two games (one loss) because the Colonels wanted to be cautious. “There were some movements I was a little iffy on first, but once I think I got my mental state down I was fine, I was good to go.”

Firebaugh looked to be moving pretty well, as she was able to beat the defense on drives to the basket and also set up her teammates on drives. She also seemed to have no problems pulling up quickly to take jumpers.

An 8-0 run over a span of four minutes and 11 seconds cut Sherando’s deficit to 29-18 in the second quarter and put the Warriors in decent shape at halftime. But with a chance to get seventh-year head coach Crites her first-ever varsity coaching win at Sherando, James Wood did everything it could to expand its advantage.

James Wood hit 8 of its first 12 shots in the third period; outrebounded the Warriors 9-4 in the third quarter (the Colonels had a 38-30 advantage for the game); and forced Sherando to commit seven of its 25 turnovers.

“We were like, ‘Let’s get the ‘dub’ for Coach Crites,” said Firebaugh (five steals), prompting laughter from Crites.

“They’re good kids,” Crites said. “I’ve got some good kids. I love ’em, and they know it.”

James Wood pulled off an unusual feat by winning despite not scoring a single point in the fourth quarter, but a Colonel defense that was impressive from the start prevented that goose egg from being a concern.

Leading 55-31, the Colonels allowed just six points in the fourth quarter. James Wood held Sherando to 15-of-43 shooting (34.8 percent) for the game.

James Wood’s full-court pressure made its presence felt early, forcing nine turnovers in the opening period. Sherando first-year coach Brooklyn Wilson called a timeout after Firebaugh jumped up to knock a pass down in the Sherando front court, then drove three-quarters of the court for a layup that made it 11-2.

“The kids take their defense seriously,” Crites said. “They know they can score fast when they play good defense. I’m pretty proud of what they did. We had a huge first quarter and a huge third quarter.”

James Wood backed out of its press in the second quarter and didn’t force any turnovers in the first six minutes of the quarter. But forcing four Sherando turnovers in the final two minutes of the half helped the Colonels settle things down.

Solid defensive play and a better job on the glass in the third quarter also helped stifle Sherando. Ella Carlson (11 points) had just two of her nine rebounds after halftime as the Colonels had a 23-16 edge on the glass in the second half.

James Wood was also led by Brynna Nesselrodt (10 points), Brenna Prunty (nine points, six rebounds, four steals) and Jenny Kerns (five steals).

The Warriors played well in the second and fourth quarter (James Wood made 2 of 28 shots in those two periods), but a squad with four injured players and a lot of new faces is still trying to gel.

“Just getting girls to play an entire game has been tough,” said Wilson, who liked how hard the team fought in the last quarter of each half. “A lot of that comes with the inexperience of some of our players, and the youth. Hopefully as we keep playing together, we’ll get it figured out.”

Post players Carlson, who played in just her second game since being injured, and Roxie McVeigh (eight points), who was brought up from the JV at the start of the season, showed Sherando could give teams problems in the paint.

“They played really well tonight,” Wilson said. “We do have a lot of options on this team to find success.”

The Warriors received 11 points from Grace Burke.

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