Wood's defense sets tone, Firebaugh surpasses 2,000 points in victory

WINCHESTER — Before Makayla Firebaugh added to her illustrious career résumé, the James Wood girls’ basketball team needed everything it could get from its defense to make sure Tuesday wasn’t her final game in a Colonel uniform.

The Colonels forced 19 turnovers and held Fauquier to 5-of-27 shooting in the first half to overcome a lackluster offensive start and take an 18-11 halftime lead.

After that the second-seeded Colonels operated much more efficiently in all phases to finish with a 60-31 win over No. 3 Fauquier. The Colonels (22-3) advanced to Thursday’s 6 p.m. championship game at No. 1 Millbrook (24-1) and earned its second consecutive Region 4C tournament berth with the win. James Wood is 1-2 against the Pioneers this year.

There was a lot to celebrate on Tuesday. After being held scoreless by Fauquier and the tall players at its disposal in its 3-2 zone in the first half, Firebaugh scored 18 points in the second half to surpass the 2,000-point mark for her career. Knowing that she needed 14 points to reach 2,000, James Wood fans roared when Firebaugh knocked down the first of two free throws for her 14th point with 2:43 left.

After she hit her second, the Colonels were up 49-26 and about to put the finishing touches on yet another defensive masterpiece against Fauquier (14-10). James Wood held the Falcons to 35, 33 and 31 points in its three wins against the Falcons, and it forced 33 turnovers and induced 13-of-51 shooting on Tuesday.

“We took them out of their rhythm and forced them to go faster than they wanted,” James Wood coach Krista Crites said. “We knew we had to do that going in. We weren’t scoring offensively, but they turned it up defensively.”

Crites and Firebaugh both credited the senior point guard Jenny Kerns at the top of the Colonels’ 1-2-2 zone for making it happen with her tenacity as the Colonels routinely rushed shots and passes.

“I think from beginning to end, Jenny was the whole deciding factor,” Crites said.

Kerns then helped James Wood’s offense get going in the second half. The Colonels were stagnant at times in the first half and attempted only four foul shots. Firebaugh was 0 for 7 from the floor, and the team was 7 of 32 from the field and 2 of 4 at the line and committed 10 turnovers.

James Wood got into the double bonus in the third quarter and made 7 of 9 free throws over the first eight minutes of the second half to extend its lead to 15 at 34-19. Firebaugh got her first points on two free throws with 3:46 left and hit her first field goal on a 3-pointer with 47 seconds to complete the third-quarter scoring and finish off a seven-point quarter. The Falcons never got any closer.

“I knew that we were having a hard time driving on them,” Crites said. “When we came out in the second half we were just passing it back and forth because we knew they were going to have to extend out and come in on us. Once we did that it would open up the paint more and we could drive in and get the points that we needed.”

When Kerns (six points) was asked about her role in the victory, she said her main goal is to keep her teammates in good spirits. So the thing she was happiest about Tuesday was seeing James Wood’s all-time leading scorer Firebaugh, who’s heading to NCAA Division I Rider next year, add another milestone to her career.

“She’s been my best friend since seventh grade. It meant everything to me when she got 2,000 points,” Kerns said. “I love her to see accomplish all this stuff.

“It means a lot to me when my teammates are happy. When we’re doing an offensive play or defensive play, ‘I’m like, ‘What do you like?’ so I can it for them.”

For most of the night it was looking like Firebaugh (25.8 points per game during the regular season) might not even reach the nine points she scored in the Colonels’ last win over Fauquier. But she said her first free throw got her going, and the 11 points she scored in the fourth quarter (six on two 3-pointers) were more than enough to keep Fauquier grounded. Firebaugh finished 7 of 9 from the line.

“It means so much that I have all the support in the world,” said Firebaugh, shortly after taking multiple pictures and receiving multiple hugs, of the crowd reaction to her 2,000th point. “It means so much that all my teammates wanted me to get that, and all my family and all my friends. Everybody who came out here tonight knew what I was trying to do. I couldn’t have asked for anything more from everybody tonight.”

Crites said the all-state player deserves all the awards and milestones that come her way.

“She’s been in the gym since birth I feel like,” Crites said. “She’s there before practice, after practice. The cool thing is that her teammates want it just as bad as she does, and that makes me even more proud as a coach and of these kids. Most of them could have animosity, but they don’t. They embrace it.”

The Colonels also got an outstanding effort from Brenna Prunty (17 points, nine rebounds) and Brooklyn Crate added 10 points. Fauquier was led by Skyler Furr (9 points).

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