Jenks girls top Broken Arrow 54-44
BY LARRY LEWIS World Correspondent
Saturday, December 22, 2012
12/22/12 at 5:30 AM
JENKS - Jessica Washington tends to draw most of the attention for Jenks, and she didn't disappoint Friday night, scoring a game-high 20 points to lead the No. 15 Jenks Lady Trojans to a 54-44 victory over No. 8 Broken Arrow in Class 6A, Frontier Valley Conference action at Jenks.
But Washington and Jenks coach Mandy Nightingale were quick to point out it was a balanced effort that was the key to holding off a spirited Broken Arrow comeback.
"We've been working really hard on getting the whole offense involved, and not just being the Jessica Washington show, even though she's by far our best player and she can do it all," said Nightingale.
"Tonight I thought we did a better job of getting everybody involved."
Washington scored 13 first-half points to lead the Trojans to a 28-15 halftime lead. Jenks was particularly hot in the second quarter from the outside, hitting five 3-pointers to account for all 15 points in the quarter.
But Jenks (4-3) went cold early in the third quarter, and Broken Arrow got hot, narrowing the Jenks lead to 28-26 midway through the quarter.
But Callie Crase answered for Jenks with a 3-pointer to up the lead to 31-26.
Broken Arrow (5-2) wouldn't go away, narrowing the margin to 38-35 early in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers could get no closer, and the Trojans slowly pulled away.
"My teammates stepped up and responded, and I'm proud of them," said Washington of the Jenks response to the Broken Arrow run.
Amazingly, Jenks went the entire second and third periods without hitting a two-pointer, and its only other points during that stretch outside of the seven 3-pointers were two free throws late in the third period.
"That's kind of what our team is, we run and gun and spread the floor and take a lot of 3s," said Nightingale. "We didn't have a very good third quarter, the pace got slowed down and we weren't hitting our shots. They had a very good third quarter, driving to the basket."
Toree Thompson led Broken Arrow with 15 points, and Amari Dennis added eight points
Taylor Sears and Jodie Halsmer each added 10 points for Jenks.
Broken Arrow 59, Jenks 53 (boys): Jordan Huffman scored 18 points to lead the No. 9 Broken Arrow boys past No. 5 Jenks.
Broken Arrow controlled most of the game, leading 49-35 early in the fourth quarter. But Jenks (4-3) came back to cut the margin to 55-53 with just over a minute left.
Trailing 56-53, the Trojans had a shot to tie the game, but Steven Parker's 3-pointer went in and out with 47 seconds remaining. Still, Broken Arrow (6-1) didn't put the game away until the closing seconds.
"We played really well for three and a half quarters, but not so well at the end of the game," said Broken Arrow coach Rusty Stecker. "Give Jenks a lot of credit. We've just got to take care of some things at the end of the game a little better.
"I'm extremely proud of our kids," said Stecker. "We knew we'd have a battle since Jenks is one of the best teams around."
Jacob Seidel led Jenks with 18 points.
Jenks 54, Broken Arrow 44 (girls)
| Broken Arrow |
6 |
9 |
15 |
14 |
- |
44 |
| Jenks |
13 |
15 |
8 |
18 |
- |
54 |
BA: Thompson 15, Dennis 8, McBride 7, Jones 6, Teague 3, Stanley 2, Gaulden 2, Heinrichs 1.
Jenks: Washington 20, Sears 10, Halsmer 10, Luellen 5, Crase 3, Phipps 3, Prince 2, Dennis 1.
Broken Arrow 59, Jenks 53
| Broken Arrow |
20 |
12 |
15 |
12 |
- |
59 |
| Jenks |
11 |
15 |
9 |
18 |
- |
53 |
Broken Arrow: Huffman 18, Rovong 11, Campbell 9, Cantrell 9, Phelps 6, Waymire 4, Davis 2.
Jenks: Seidel 18, Phillips 11, Parker 9, Jones 6, Fling 4, Williams 3, Clark 2.
Original Print Headline: Jenks girls beat BA at home
Associated Images:
Jenks' Jessica Washington (right) drives around Broken Arrow's Alexis Gaulden during their Class 6A game at Jenks High School on Friday. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World
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