The Yellow Jackets celebrate their win over James River Midlothian in the first round of the state playoffs.
(photo via Pierre Cannon)
After a week off following their Region 6B Championship win over Woodbridge, Osbourn Park hosted James River Midlothian on Friday night. There'd be no signs of rust as OP's locomotive powered through to a 59-35 victory over the Rapids.
Yellow Jackets junior guard Danielle Darfour would once again be tasked with defending the opposition's best player. Last week it was Amani Melendez and this week it was the number one recruit of the class of 2025, freshman phenom guard Lanie Grant. Grant verbally committed to the University of North Carolina prior to the start of this season.
Things got off to a rocky start as Darfour committed an early foul on Grant. The freshman calmly sank the two free throws. Despite the early foul, Darfour would never once be in foul trouble the rest of the game.
Osbourn Park junior Danielle Darfour guarding James River Midlothian's Lanie Grant.
(photo via Pierre Cannon)
Osbourn Park forward Kori Cole answered with a pair of free throws of her own minutes later, and Darfour scored on a layup to put the home team up 9-4 with 4:30 left in the first quarter. Lanie Grant would be called for a charging foul on the Rapids' next possession, and Osbourn Park wasted no time taking advantage. Senior Hailey Kellogg would find Kori Cole for a three-pointer to put them up 12-4 at the 2:30 mark. After one quarter, the blue and yellow would hold a 13-6 lead.
James River Midlothian sophomore guard Katrina Scholtz drilled a shot from deep to bring the Rapids within three points at 13-9 to kick off the second quarter. Junior Yellow Jacket guard Alana Powell answered with a pair of free throws, and sophomore guard Angie Yaan sank a three to stretch OP's lead to 19-10 with 5:00 left in the half.
Darfour would turn the ball over on OP's next possession and Lanie Grant was off the the races seemingly for a basket. Hailey Kellogg would never give up, craftily poking the ball out to prevent a score. Grant would get a measure of revenge with a smooth step-back three the next time up the court as OP led 19-13.
The Rapids would put Osbourn Park into the bonus halfway through the second quarter. OP would miss the free throw, but Danielle Darfour snagged the offensive rebound for an easy putback. Darfour would finish the game with 6 points on 3-4 shooting with 1 rebound and 1 assist.
Alana Powell would close out the half slashing for a layup as Osbourn Park led 25-17 after two quarters. Powell led all Osbourn Park scorers with 18 points on 6-9 (1-3 3PT) shooting. She'd also add 6 rebounds, 4 assists and go 5-9 from the charity stripe. The four assists tied Kellogg for most as well.
Junior guard Alana Powell led Osbourn Park with 18 points on 6-9 shooting.
(photos via Pierre Cannon)
Osbourn Park was held scoreless for a little over two minutes to start the second half and the visitors began to close the gap. A 6-0 run via three-pointers by Grant and sophomore guard Alisha Whirley cut OP's lead to 25-23 with 5:44 to go in the third.
While the home crowd grew nervous, Osbourn Park never lost focus. They'd respond with a 13-0 run capped off by a Kori Cole offensive rebound and putback, forcing a Rapids timeout. A Lanie Grant layup would break it, and Yellow Jackets head coach Chrissy Kelly immediately called a timeout of her own with 1:38 left in the quarter. Connections from Kellogg to Cole and Cole to freshman center Alex Brown gave OP a 44-27 lead heading into the final quarter.
Yellow Jackets junior Kori Cole had another all-around great game, totaling 14 points, 4 steals, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. (photo via Pierre Cannon)
Osbourn Park's relentless motor on both sides stretched the lead in the fourth to as much as 25 points. Hailey Kellogg and Danielle Darfour would checkout as the crowd gave them a round of applause. Into the game came senior Chloe Wolf-Pullen who immediately made an impact with a block before the Yellow Jackets would spend the majority of the final minute draining the clock.
After the game, Kori Cole spoke to her and her team's effort.
"We are a big defensive team- that’s how we get our momentum
going, Danielle did an amazing job on Lanie. We find our rhythm and the way we
play and that’s when we open up those scoring gaps."
I also asked Alana Powell about what led to her success at attacking the basket tonight.
"We work hard every day. We work on contact finishing, defense, transition from both sides of the ball and it just translates to games. It's all about countering the other team's offense. When they have runs, we need to capitalize. It's all about composure and making good decisions."
Freshman center Alex Brown tallied 11 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals on 4-6 shooting.
(photo via Pierre Cannon)
Finally I spoke to head coach Chrissy Kelly who was unfortunately experiencing some discomfort due to a cracked tooth she sustained in the second quarter.
"I initially had felt something yesterday. I just chew gum really hard, and I felt like my tooth was about to come out."
Yet despite the excruciating pain, her focus never wavered in leading her team to a second straight state semi-final appearance. Before she offered insight on her team's effort, Kelly praised the talent of James River Midlothian.
"Lanie Grant's composure- it's just wild how good she is. As a coach you sit back and hope you make every point she scores hard, but you also sit back in awe and appreciate how beautiful her game is. She's very smart with the ball. They had a cohesive aura about them in warm-ups. That's a really well-coached team."
Takes one to know one. Kelly then spoke about her team's approach tonight.
"I tell them, 'we're going to have breakdowns, people are going to score- but you can't get stuck in that moment'. Tonight we never got stuck in those moments James River made runs. They work this hard in practice every day. It's not unfamiliar when there's pressure for them. Staying composed is critical."
Monday's state semi-finals pit OP (25-1) against Thomas Dale (20-4) following the Knight's 47-38 win over Woodbridge. Thomas Dale comes in riding an eight-game win streak- but that pales in comparison to Osbourn Park's nineteen in a row. The irresistible force meets the immovable object as the Knights average 58.4 points per game and the Yellow Jackets allow 30.9 points per game.
For more on the lady Yellow Jackets, follow them on Instagram @OPHSWBB.
No comments:
Post a Comment