STEPHENS CITY — Josie Willett had never won on Senior Night.
Despite Willett being on the Sherando High School girls’ varsity basketball team for her first three years as a Warrior, a Senior Night victory had always slipped away from her and the team.
But that changed on her own Senior Night on Friday when Willett and the Warriors defeated James Wood 42-35 for their fourth win of the season.
The Warriors (4-10, 1-3 Class 4 Northwestern District) outscored the Colonels 24-14 in the second half after trailing 9-1 to start the game.
“We haven’t gotten a Senior Night win all four years I’ve been in high school, so finally breaking the curse is great,” said Willett, who finished with three points.
While Willett’s point total didn’t approach her previous scoring average of 8.1 points per game, the senior guard still made a tremendous impact.
After trailing by eight to start the game, Sherando led Wood (8-5, 2-2) 36-32 with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter. After Wood inbounded the ball from the Warriors’ baseline, Willett forced a steal, which led to Madison Mood scoring a layup to extend Sherando’s lead to six points with 52 seconds left.
Shortly after Mood’s layup, Wood’s Josie Russell made one free throw to bring the Colonels’ deficit to 38-33. Willett then went to the line on the ensuing possession and made her first shot. While she missed the second shot, Mood grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled on a shot attempt. Mood then drilled both free throws to give the Warriors a 41-33 lead and seal the win with 12.8 seconds remaining.
Mood, who finished with a team-high 13 points, launched into the air in celebration as the buzzer sounded to signal the Warriors’ first Class 4 Northwestern District win of the season.
“It felt amazing,” Mood said of the win. “On top of our Senior Night and everything, this was just perfect.”
Sherando coach Brooklyn Wilson said the victory was needed after the Warriors had won just one game since Dec. 28 going into Friday.
“With the way we’ve been playing and having trouble scoring, any win feels good,” Wilson said. “But against a really good team, a well-coached team, it’s a little more sweet, especially with it being Senior Night and us wanting to honor our seniors.”
Sherando held onto its lead in the fourth, thanks in large part to a stout defensive effort. Wood made just one of 11 shots from the field and was outscored 11-6 in the final eight minutes.
“As a team, we focus on defense,” Willett said. “A lot of our defense gives us momentum for offense, and as long as we’re staying cool, calm and collected — which we kept saying, ‘Take a breath, take a breath, take a breath’ — as long as we’re firing on all cylinders on defense that led to our offense, that just kept us together.”
Sherando came back from an early 9-1 deficit after starting the game 0 for 9 from the floor before Farren Crist hit a jumper with 30 seconds left in the first.
Down 11-3 entering the second quarter, it was Mood who jumpstarted the Warriors’ offense. Mood hit two 3-pointers in under a minute span to bring Sherando’s deficit to 12-9. The Warriors earned their first lead of the night with 2:10 left in the quarter when Crist scored a layup to give her team an 18-17 advantage.
Wilson thought her players began to settle down in the second quarter after a poor start to the rivalry game.
“We have struggled scoring this year, it’s been no secret,” Wilson said. “The last time we played them, it was a really low-scoring first half — I think we had nine at halftime — so we talked about coming out, getting a good start, and we struggled to do that.
“We weren’t really hitting anything. We were getting some good shots, but we just pulled them over before the second quarter and talked to them about just settling down. I think there were a lot of nerves, a lot of anxiety, just with all of the hype of Senior Night and it being a [county] rival on Friday night.”
Although Wood led 21-18 at the half, the Warriors came out of the locker room swinging. They went on an 8-0 run to begin the third and took a 26-21 lead with 2:52 left in the quarter. Sherando held the Colonels to a 0-for-9 shooting start to begin the second half.
Madison Shirley got Wood on the board in the third with a 3-pointer with 2:26 left. Russell, who netted a game-high 17 points, also hit a running 3-pointer well beyond the arc at the buzzer to bring the Colonels’ deficit to 31-29 heading into the final quarter.
Willett believes Friday’s win gives the Warriors positive momentum heading into their game at Skyline on Monday.
“It’s definitely really refreshing to finally put a whole game together,” Willett said.
James Wood coach Sanford Silver was not reachable for comment. The Colonels will travel to Kettle Run on Saturday.
— Contact Justin Robertson at jrobertson@winchesterstar.com
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