Coming off a Cedar District Championship win last Friday over Gainesville, the Osbourn Park Yellow Jackets focused their attention on the regional playoff quarterfinals versus Woodbridge at home. The Vikings would fall to OP, 72-32.
Woodbridge guard Trinity Henderson kicked the scoring off with a three-pointer at the 6:05 mark. It would be answered with a basket from OP senior guard Alana Powell. Powell would follow that up with a steal and draw a foul trying for a layup. She'd hit one of two free throws to knot that game at 3-3. She'd find freshman guard Jayel West for a basket and the home team's first lead of the night at 5-3.
Coming out of a Woodbridge timeout, the Vikings would take a 9-6 lead that would be countered by a Keyarah Rainey assist to sophomore center Alex Brown. A barrage of steals and baskets involving freshman Samia Snead, Keyarah Rainey would extend their lead to six at 15-9. Trinity Henderson would draw a foul on Alex Brown for a hoop and the harm, pulling her team within three points at 15-12 as the first quarter ended.
Woodbridge would turn the ball over early in the second quarter after a five-second violation on offense. OP would hit a rhythm, capped off by a steal and score by senior guard Danielle Darfour to give her team a 23-15 lead with 6:40 left in the first half.
A questionable blocking call on senior forward Kori Cole would allow Vikings senior center Imani Sanders to hit one of two free throws and draw the ire of the OP faithful. The Yellow Jackets worked quickly to make fans forget after an offensive rebound by Jayel West led to a three-pointer by Danielle Darfour. That was followed up by a Powell assist to Kori Cole to extend their lead to 30-19. OP would carry a 36-22 lead into the half.
The Yellow Jackets would be up 39-24 before another Trinity Henderson three-pointer made it 39-27. Osbourn Park would snuff out any intentions Woodbridge had of coming back with a 16-0 run to extend the lead to 55-27. Their selfless play was on full display with assists from three players and scoring from eight players via baskets inside, three-pointers and free throws. The run was snapped after almost five minutes with a Trinity Henderson basket at the 43 second mark in the third quarter.
Alana Powell would end the quarter on a high note, draining her second three-pointer in under a minute to give OP a 58-29 lead heading into the final quarter.
Osbourn Park head coach Chrissy Kelly would give her bench a chance for most of the fourth quarter. A steal by junior guard Angie Yann would lead to a Samia Snead three-pointer off an assist from Alex Brown to make it 61-29. The Yellow Jackets used a 12-3 quarter to finish off a 36-10 half capped off by two free throws from freshman guard Jaelyn Gorham.
Keyarah Rainey led all OP scorers with 14 points on 7-9 shooting, adding 5 rebounds, 4 assists and one steal.
I spoke with Samia Snead following the game. She'd be the team's second highest scorer with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and one steal.
"After the first quarter, Coach Kelly pulled us together and we started playing more for each other. We weren't focused with a different mindset, but we'd eventually play our game."
Snead would speak to where she gets her composure from as a freshman playing quality minutes in the playoffs.
"I get it from Alana (Powell). I came into the season really immature like any other freshman. I've had conversations with her and watch what she does and I was able to build on my maturity. I'm still a freshman, but I feel like I have to be a senior on the court."
I then caught up with Alana Powell.
"I'm just happy we were able to pull it together in the end. We started off kind of slow and my teammates picked up my slack in the first half. After our talk at halftime and how encouraging my teammates were, I was able to knock down those shots in the second half."
Powell then spoke to Snead's praise of her.
"She's grown so much and to see her thrive in big games like this is great to see. She'd been applying all the advice we've given her."
Kori Cole only had 2 points, but her effect on the game with 5 rebounds and 7 steals more than made up for it.
"We didn't expect the first half to go like it did. We didn't come in here cocky or anything, but we were hopeful. Our freshman really stepped up today," said Cole.
Those freshman (Snead, Rainey and West) would combine for 36 of the team's 72 points.
Finally I talked to Chrissy Kelly to get her thoughts on the forty point win.
"I have to remember it is tournament time and there are nerves, expectations, energy and adrenaline. It can all be draining, so we started off slow. Jayel West came out as a different player today. She did a really good job."
Kelly would use a variety of lineups throughout the game, constantly keeping Woodbridge on their heels.
"The hardest part of coaching is finding that right chemistry. When you go to the bench, you don't know. You're hoping all the practice has prepared them for that moment and to be a gamechanger. We use different mixtures of players with our various styles of defense."
The Yellow Jackets (21-4, 11-1) don't have too much time to celebrate, as they host the Colgan Sharks (16-9, 8-4) Wednesday at 6 PM in the regional semi-finals.
Game Notes:
- OP had 4 double-digit scorers: Keyarah Rainey (14), Samia Snead (12), Alana Powell (11) and Jayel West (10).
- Osbourn Park shot 25-48 (52%) from the field and 5-15 (33%) from three-point land. They'd shoot 17-24 (71%) from the free throw line.
- The Yellow Jackets finished the game with 32 rebounds (11 offensive), 14 assists and 18 steals.
- Alex Brown had 9 points, 6 rebounds and one assist. She also had two blocks, both early in the first quarter.
- Sophomore Julia Mathews made the most of her minutes with 6 points and drew a crucial charge late in the game.
For more on Osbourn Park girl's basketball, follow them on Twitter at @OPHSWBB and on Instagram at @OPHSWBB.
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