The562’s coverage of Jordan Athletics is sponsored by former LBUSD superintendent Chris Steinhauser.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
The Jordan girls’ basketball team is at their best when the game matters most. The Panthers led by just two points midway through the fourth quarter while hosting Wilson at McBride High School on Wednesday before closing the game on a 15-3 run en route to a 62-46 win.
“I think we were able to stay steady and eventually stay true to our game,” said Jordan coach Wesley Rosenbaum. “We just started running our offense. We got good shots in the first half that just weren’t falling, but I told them to keep their composure and keep shooting it. I think they executed well at the end when we really needed it.”
The Panthers outscored Wilson 19-10 in the fourth quarter and ended the game with their biggest lead of 16 points. Junior captain Janiah Lorn helped spark the run with a 9-0 run of her own in the quarter while finishing with 17 points.
“She’s our point guard which doesn’t always mean points. She runs the team and runs the offense but tonight I really thought she drove the ball well, got to her jump stops, was in tune with what I asked of her, and didn’t get down on her mistakes,” said Rosenbaum of Lorn. “She really came through for us at the end there and did a great job.”
Similarly to the end of the game, the Panthers opened the first quarter with an 8-0 run within the first two minutes before a Wilson response in a 7-0 run of their own. The pair traded blows in an even 10-10 quarter before another seven point Bruin run to take a seven point lead to open the second quarter.
The Bruins leaned on senior Paige Williams who had back-to-back threes in the first quarter and three three-pointers in the first half. Wilson also drew key fouls in the paint for crucial free throw attempts including five trips to the line from Emily Alvarez-Smith who helped spark the first half runs with five made free throws in the half. The Bruins finished the game 15/22 (68.2%) from the free throw line.
“We just focused on basic stuff and ran our basic sets on offense which we did a really good job of in the second quarter,” said Wilson coach Hank Waddles. “And this was one of our best free throw shooting games. It’s a good sign when you have your shooters at the line and it definitely helped us tonight.”
Jordan began drawing fouls of their own as the game went on and began finding quality work from inside the paint. The Panthers shot 11/25 from the line meanwhile 5-foot-10 Jah’asharee Moore found all of her game-high 23 points from within the paint. Moore also finished the night with a double-double, racking up 10 rebounds.
“I just wanted to go in and do what I do. I just kept driving whether it was a make or a miss to stay positive for my teammates and keep us going,” said Moore. “Wilson is one of our rival schools so it was our mindset to go as hard as possible so I just tried to go back up (for second chance opportunities) and do what I could for my team.”
The Bruins found one last run in the third quarter from Alvarez-Smith who led her own 7-1 scoring run including a three-pointer to tie the game up midway through the quarter. The Panthers would end the quarter 10-4 run of their own before blowing the game open in the fourth.
“We just couldn’t get too caught up with their runs. We identified their scorers a little bit later than we expected and then we were able to try and focus on them. And then we eventually just stayed running our offense.”
The pair will look ahead to Friday’s slate of games where Wilson will be on the road at Cabrillo meanwhile Jordan will travel to Lakewood.
