Judges overcome adversity, Hawks

View larger image Skyline's Courtney Kidd, left, and Taylor Henry of cheer their team on from the bench after both had fouled out of the game against Handley. Dennis Grundman/Daily View larger image Handley’s Corin Scott takes a shot past Skyline’s Oshene Kelly during their game Tuesday in Front Royal. Dennis Grundman/Daily View larger image Handley's Cassie Alamo and Skyline's Taylor Henry get their hands on a loose ball. Dennis Grundman/Daily View larger image Handley's Kirsten Ward and Skyline's Jenny Norman try to position themselves for a rebound. Dennis Grundman/Daily

By Dennis Atwood - sports@nvdaily.com

FRONT ROYAL -- Both Handley and host Skyline dealt with significant adversity as the in the initiation of Northwestern District girls basketball play for the Hawks on Tuesday night.

The Judges dealt with pre-game adversity, while the Hawks experienced adversity during the game, arising from an injury to a key player and a foul-out by their senior leader.

Handley dealt successfully with its own adversity and took advantage of the Hawks' ill fortune to turn a six-point halftime deficit into a 57-54 victory.

The Judges' adversity arose from having to process a 114-48 thrashing by Millbrook last Thursday.

The Hawks' adversity came when starting senior forward Oshene Kelly took a fall on a hard foul by Handley's Sadie Thomas while attempting a layup with 1:15 remaining in the second period.

Kelly crashed to the floor and needed considerable attention before being escorted off the court, favoring her left shoulder, and was later transported to the hospital.

"When [Kelly] was injured and they were taking her out and we were in that huddle, I could just see the impact," Hawks coach Jim Kenney said. "I don't think we ever really recovered. We had a couple of good runs, and we actually built on the lead for a minute. But, you know, Handley's athletic. They used their athleticism and played very well down the stretch."

In addition to Kelly's absence, the Judges benefited from the Hawks' senior leader, Taylor Henry, fouling out with 1:56 remaining in the game after scoring 16 points, grabbing seven rebounds and making five assists.

The score was tied at 39-all at the end of third period, and the Judges took the fourth frame, 18-15, for their three-point winning margin.

"It breaks our heart, because we all saw how much pain [Kelly] was in, " Henry said. "She's one of our top players. We look to her, and if my shot's not going, we look to Oshene [Kelly]."

Sophomore forward Jenny Norman contributed a double-double effort to the Hawks' cause, with a career- and game-high 19 points and 14 boards.

Norman scored 10 points in the first half, and nine after the break, to go 9 for 11 from the field, but managed only 1 for 5 at the free-throw line.

Skyline (10-3, 0-1 Northwestern) surged with an 8-0 run to open the second period, six of those points coming on three consecutive field goals by Henry.

Handley (8-2, 1-1 Northwestern) didn't score in the frame until the 3:40 mark, then turned things around with a 9-4 run over the remainder of the period behind field goals from Kirsten Ward, Corin Scott, and Verna Hilaire-Lee -- plus a 3-pointer by Cassie Alamo -- to pull within 27-21 at halftime.

The Hawks scored the first six points of the third period to take a 12-point lead, their biggest of the night, at 33-21.

Then Kelly's absence took a toll on the Hawks, as the Judges got two more treys by Alamo and one by Thomas, a field goal by Scott, and went 7 for 8 at the free-throw line for an 18-6 run to create a 39-all tie at the end of period.

Handley scored the first five points of the fourth period, to increase its lead to 44-39 with 6:34 remaining, which turned out to be the largest lead of the period, as the teams duked it out to the end.

The Hawks made a 9-2 run on three points by Norman and two each from Henry, Sommer Cox, and Quinn Breeden to take a 48-46 lead with 4:40 remaining.

That was the Hawks' last lead as Alamo answered with her fourth 3-pointer on the night for the Judges, and Scott made both shots of free-throw opportunity.

Later, Scott was deliberately fouled and sank both of her freebies for a 57-54 lead with four seconds remaining, and the Hawks missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Alamo, Scott and Ward had 14 points each for Handley.

"The most important thing tonight was the resilience of coming back from a humiliating defeat [by Millbrook]," Judges coach Marvin Scott said. "It's not so much the score, but what we did not do. We did not do the things we practice. Our head has been down since that game. To come back in here, my pre-game was, 'That was yesterday, I know it still hurts, but you've got to pull yourself together and go out there and compete.'

"Not having [Kelly] in the game was a game-changer. And I'm sorry to see her not be in that game for them. But we're a better basketball club than that. We're very athletic and quick and we did not get up and down the floor at all. We did a lot of things that should have shot ourselves in the foot."