Wood falls to Skyline

February 11, 2011

By Robert Niedzwiecki
The Winchester Star       

STEPHENS CITY- Once again, the James Wood girls' basketball team fought hard and pushed a Northwestern District opponent.

Once again, it wasn't enough.

The No. 5 Colonels fell 66-53 to No. 4 Skyline in the Northwestern District play-in game Thursday night at Sherando High School.

The loss completed an 0-9 season for James Wood against district schools. Skyline will move on to face No. 1 Millbrook (20-0) at the same location in Tuesday's semifinals.

The Colonels (8-14) put themselves in a large hole with a mistake-filled second quarter, and they were unable to pull themselves out after Skyline (15-8) found its offensive rhythm in the third quarter and pushed a 31-23 halftime lead to 48-33. James Wood was tied with Skyline 22-22 with 4:28 to go in the second quarter, but the Colonels only attempted one more field goal until a desperation 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer.

The Colonels committed nine turnovers in the second quarter and were outrebounded 27-17 in the first half.

"It was fundamentals," James Wood coach Rhonda Slider said. "We were not able to take care of the ball. We were walking with the ball. We weren't able to get position and get the rebounds we wanted to get. Fundamentals is the key to the game.

"I don't think we played them as well as we have in the past, and when you get down, it's very hard to come back."

Skyline's Oshene Kelly (12 points and 17 rebounds) grabbed five offensive boards in the second quarter to provide the Hawks with the second-chance opportunities they needed. The Hawks shot just 10 of 36 in the first half, but by grabbing 16 offensive rebounds and playing strong defense, they were able to enter halftime with that eight-point lead.

"We had really good defense," Kelly said. "We were making them travel, forcing turnovers, and rebounding. We just knew we had to keep Shannan Thorne off the boards."

Thorne finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Colonels, but she had just three points in the first half and just one rebound during Skyline's 9-1 run over the last 4:28 of the first half.

When the second half opened, Skyline truly took control. The Hawks shared and shot the ball well (7 of 13), and when they did miss, they hustled for putbacks.

With 1:21 to go in the third, Kelly left her feet to tap a rebound that was going out of bounds back to Taylor Henry (team-high 16 points), who knocked down the jumper to make it 46-31. Kelly's rebound was part of a third quarter in which the Hawks out-rebounded the Colonels 14-4.

"We really pushed it out in the third quarter, and it started with our defense," said Skyline coach Jim Kenney, whose team held the Colonels to 4-of-17 shooting in the third. "I was really happy with it."

The Colonels' double-digit defeat wasn't the norm this district season. Four of James Wood's district losses were by single digits, including both of their previous games against Skyline.

"I just feel that our record doesn't speak for how we play on the court," Thorne said. "Anyone who saw our close Sherando game, our close Handley game ... a lot of the games that we've played, it's come down to a minute or two."

In all likelihood, Thursday was James Wood's final game. With no district wins, it will be difficult for the Colonels to land a Region II Division 4 tournament berth. (Sherando, another Division 4 school, failed to make the tournament after going winless in the district last year.)

Still, Slider will remember this group fondly.

"It has been a phenomenal year watching them grow," she said. "Some of them played on my freshman team when I coached freshman, and to see where they are now, it's a really nice feeling to see them so well connected and together."

Thorne, one of four seniors, had similar thoughts.

"This has been my favorite season at James Wood," she said. "I wouldn't trade this team for anything. We all put in so much time and worked really hard."

Senior Kelsey Seymour added 11 points for the Colonels, and Jenny Norman had 11 for Skyline.

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