St. Charles girls lose to Gwynn Park
Pivotal runs key in Spartans loss
After battling visiting Gwynn Park High School to a 58-46 setback in the season opener for both squads on Wednesday evening, St. Charles High School head girls basketball coach Derrelle Smith realized that the difference in the outcome hinged on two prolonged runs executed by the Yellow Jackets.
St. Charles (0-1 overall) led 8-7 after the opening quarter and extended the advantage to 11-7 at the outset of the second period when junior Aysia Jones connected on a three-point field goal. But Gwynn Park (1-0) responded with a 12-0 run for a 19-11 lead that the Spartans eventually whittled down to 30-26 at the intermission. The hosts, however, would not emerge from the locker room with the same momentum.
In another pivotal stretch for both teams at the outset of the second half, Gwynn Park opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run that finally ended when Jones hit a free throw with 3 minutes 44 seconds remaining in the frame.
Consecutive buckets from Sarah Austin brought St. Charles within 37-31, but the Yellow Jackets ended that quarter on an 8-2 run for a 45-33 advantage and only once saw their advantage dip below double-digits in the final eight minutes.
Jones led the Spartans and all scorers with 20 points, while Austin added 12 for the hosts.
“We had a really good first quarter, but then they came out with a run to start the second quarter and we had to dig ourselves out from there,” Smith said. “I thought we did a good job fighting back to get close before halftime, but then the same thing happened at the start of the third quarter. We had to do a better job rebounding. We gave up too many layups and we have to do a better job staying out of foul trouble.”
Gwynn Park relied primarily on junior guard Denai Bowman and sophomore center Janae Dublin. Bowman and Dublin combined for 33 points, 17 for Dublin and 16 for Bowman, and senior guard Chyna Landon connected on three three-point field goals and finished with 11 points. Longtime Gwynn Park head coach Mike Strother believed the outset of the contest hinged primarily on what his players failed to do and the rest evolved on what they’re capable of doing.
“I think that first quarter, being the first game of the season, the girls just didn’t trust each other and they didn’t trust what we had taught them,” Strother said. “I think after we talked to them after the first quarter they executed rely well. The same thing happened coming out of the break at halftime. We played much better defense and we got to the basket for some easy layups and we rebounded well.”
Trailing 45-33 heading into the fourth quarter, St. Charles clawed back within single-digits with more than four minutes remaining on a short jumper by Jones, another short jumper by Oriah Felix and a driving layup by Jones that trimmed Gwynn Park’s lead to 4840. But another pivotal run by the Yellow Jackets ensued as Dublin hit a pair of free throws, Landon connected on her third three-pointer of the night and Dublin followed with a mid-range jumper to make it 55-40 with 2:35 remaining.
“[Bowman] and [Dublin] are both really, really good,” Smith said. “We knew they were going to be tough to stop. [Bowman] is really good driving to the basket and [Dublin] is really good in the low post. In the second half, the fouls really started to add up and right now we just don’t have the depth to
overcome foul trouble. We’ve got to stop reaching and get better at moving our feet and then we’ll stay out of foul trouble.”
St. Charles ended the game with a bucket and two free throws from Shaniqua Jackson and another layup from Jones, but the Yellow Jackets had already forged an insurmountable lead by that point. The Spartans will host Leonardtown at 6:30 tonight, while the Yellow Jackets will compete this weekend in the “She Got Game” Tournament.