Big 2nd half lifts Colonels over Warriors

By Robert Niedzwiecki
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — What transpired in the second quarter looked all too familiar to the James Wood High School girls’ basketball team, and the Colonels decided enough was enough.

James Wood rallied from a two-point halftime deficit to outscore Sherando by 16 in the second half — including 26-13 in the fourth quarter — and the Colonels ended up with a 68-54 Northwestern District victory Saturday night at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium.

It was just the second victory of the season for the Colonels (2-7, 1-1 Northwestern), and it was aided largely by the aggressive play that earned them 32 trips to the free-throw line in the second half.

“Basically, we had to push the ball,” said senior guard Tori Eaton, who scored a game-high 19 points and added seven rebounds to nicely complement senior guard Heather Armel (16 points, 15 rebounds). “We needed a win.”

A victory was far from guaranteed at halftime.

After taking an 18-9 lead on Sherando (4-6, 0-3) after the first quarter, the Colonels had a second quarter to forget. James Wood was outscored 16-5, made just 1 of 8 field goal attempts, converted just 3 of 8 free throws, and it committed 12 turnovers. James Wood’s point and turnover total were the same as it had in the second quarter of Friday night’s loss to Millbrook. 

 The quarter ended with the Colonels seemingly asleep. With just a few seconds left, Brooklyn Wilson (13 points, six rebounds, four steals) went to inbound the ball in the backcourt and discovered no James Wood player was in the frontcourt to guard Allison Boespflug (10 points), who buried a jumper as time expired to give Sherando a 25-23 halftime lead.

The Colonels talked about limiting turnovers in the second half, but mainly they talked about having everyone dig down and contribute.

“It was the speech we used [Friday] night. ‘It’s up to you girls if you want to step up to start shooting the ball,’” James Wood coach Rhonda Slider said.

The Colonels shot a solid 11 of 21 from the field in the second half, but fittingly, it was two free throws by Eaton at the 6:36 mark of the third that got the Colonels on their way.

James Wood (29 of 44 free throws overall) made 23 of 34 foul shots in the second half, and it needed every one of them to hold off a gritty effort from Sherando, which led 41-40 with 29 seconds left in the third quarter and trailed by only three at 52-49 with 3:36 remaining. At that point, a couple of layups from Shannan Thorne (eight points, 10 rebounds) that were set up by two strong passes pushed the lead to seven.

“We were definitely trying to penetrate to the basket more,” Armel said. “We were either scoring or they were fouling us. They were playing man against us, so we realized if we got to the basket, they would collapse on us and someone would be open. When they double-teamed me, someone would be open, and my teammates finished tonight.”

Had James Wood shot from the line like it did against Millbrook (12 of 25), the Colonels might have struggled to pull the game out. But led by Whitney Dennis (15 points overall, 10 of 12 from the line in the second half), and a 51-rebound night, the Colonels were able to relax at the end.

Sherando’s offense, however, could never get comfortable. Using a mix of press and man defense as well as 2-3 and 3-2 zones, James Wood held the Warriors to 19-of-77 shooting (24.6 percent).

Sherando coach Tim Davis said the Colonels didn’t do anything the Warriors couldn’t handle. They just couldn’t find a rhythm.

“They just outplayed us,” said Davis, whose team was also led by Morgan Sirbaugh (13 points, eight rebounds) and Paige Mills (12 points, 12 rebounds, three steals). “We went pretty cold, and they knocked down their free throws when they had to.

“We got the looks that we wanted, but we’d throw the ball away or miss a shot. You can do whatever you want to do. But you get a look, you’ve got to knock down 35 percent of them. And we’re not shooting 35 percent. There’s nothing wrong with us that somebody getting a hot hand for three quarters couldn’t fix.”

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