WINCHESTER — If you had told James Wood girls’ basketball coach Sanford Silver before the game that Handley star Reagan Edsell would have only have three points with 30 seconds left in the first half, he probably would have signed up for that in a heartbeat.
An eight-point deficit and just 10 total points for the Colonels at that point in the game was not what he had in mind, however. And ultimately, James Wood couldn’t generate consistent offense until it was far too late.
The North No. 2 seed Judges led as many as 20 points in the second half before ultimately finishing with a 47-38 win over North No. 3 James Wood in the Region 4D quarterfinals on Monday at Maddex-Omps Gymnasium.
Handley (19-5) will now play on Wednesday in a 6:30 p.m. semifinal game at North No. 1 Charlottesville, which defeated North No. 5 Millbrook (13-12) 78-42 after leading 43-17 at halftime in Monday’s other semifinal.
The Black Knights (22-2) ended the Judges’ season at the same location in last year’s semifinals and beat Handley 58-55 earlier this season in the Northwestern vs. Jefferson Basketball Showcase at Millbrook. The winner will earn a state tournament berth and a spot in Friday’s Region 4D title game.
“It’s going to be hard, for sure,” said Edsell, who scored 17 of her team-high 20 points over the last 16 minutes and 1 second, about playing Charlottesville. “I think it’s a good matchup, and one we’ve been waiting for.”
The Judges’ matchup with James Wood (14-10) on Monday proved to be harder than the games they had with them in the regular season. Handley swept the Colonels by the scores of 66-31 and 56-26.
James Wood used a box-and-1 defense on Edsell in the first half, and she said that was the most a team had used that approach against her all season.
“I thought [the box-and-one] was a great game plan, and I think our athletes did a really good job to hold [Edsell] down,” Silver said.
But Silver noted that Wood used a lot of energy to provide help on Edsell when she did get the ball in the first half, and he thinks that might have worn down the Colonels some when they tried to execute their offense.
Nakayla Armel picked up the Handley offense, scoring all of 11 of her points in the first half. At the end of the half, Edsell stole the ball in the back court, ran the floor and was fouled while laying the ball in with nine-tenths of a second left in the first half. She then hit the ensuing free throw to give the Judges a 21-10 halftime lead.
Edsell’s three-point play would set the tone for Handley in the second half. The Judges would hurt James Wood in the third quarter with outside shooting when the Colonels got out of the box-and-one early in the period, and later, in transition.
Handley outscored the Colonels 17-10 in the third quarter for a 38-20 lead (the Judges led 38-18 at one point), and that advantage was more than enough. Paced by Josie Russell (15 of her game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter), James Wood scored 13 points in the last two minutes and 38 seconds, but could get no closer than 44-37 with 45.5 seconds left.
The Judges’ defense was mostly stout. Handley forced 22 turnovers, and James Wood was shooting around 20 percent from the field until its late scoring flurry.
Edsell gave credit to her teammates for moving the ball around and scoring when she wasn’t, and felt the team did well to counter James Wood’s methodical approach on offense in the first half. Handley was able to change the game’s pace in the third quarter.
“We emphasized at halftime to step on defense, step up on their ball handlers, not let them get too much room, and I think that helped the whole team with steals, transition, fast break,” Edsell said.
“Anytime we are able to speed things up, I think it always works in our favor,” Handley coach Katlynn Orndorff said.
Silver did like that the Colonels kept pushing. Handley’s depth dwindled in the fourth quarter. Olivia Jett (eight points) left with the Judges up 38-20 with an injury, which hurt Handley’s ball-handling. The Judges then saw Amaya Smith foul out with 2:38 left and Cameron Hobson foul out with 1:19 left, though Jett did return with the score 41-32 when Hobson came out.
“I thought we were resilient,” Silver said. “We never backed down and we never quit. I think we were able to get downhill more in that second half, and it paid dividends for us. We were able to get to the rim and draw some fouls.”
Outside of Russell (9 of 9 on free throws), James Wood struggled to take advantage of the Judges’ fouls, with the rest of the team going 4 for 13.
Silver was pleased with the season for the Colonels, who improved from 9-13 last year. He’ll miss the seniors who helped with that improvement — Russell, who will play for NCAA Division II Salem University in West Virginia on a full scholarship next year, Maddie Shirley and Maia Reid.
“It’s been an emotional ride,” Silver said. “We’re all like family. You can see the tears in my eyes tonight. We’re losing some real good people. When you spend a lot of time with these athletes, it’s like a part of you leaving. They’ve been great to our program. They’ll be missed.”
Handley hopes it can keep its season going for at least another six days by beating Charlottesville on Wednesday.
“We’ve definitely got to play better all-around as a team come Wednesday,” Orndorff said. “Just taking care of the ball, lessening the turnovers, and playing strong and confident.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
Follow on X @WinStarSports1