ERIE, Pa.. - The Jamestown Lady Red Raiders came on in the middle quarters and opened their girls basketball season with an 81-53 win over McDowell on Monday.
It was also the first win at the varsity level for new Jamestown coach Mark Nugent. He coached girls basketball at the Persell Middle School for nine years and has been an assistant at the varsity level in several sports. But this was his first time coaching and winning a varsity game.
''It feel great,'' Nugent said. ''I'm just happy for the kids, I'm excited for them.''
The teams were tied at 17 after the first quarter and the Lady Red Raiders took a 38-30 lead at halftime. However, they put the game away with a 28-13 advantage in the third quarter.
''We had a big third quarter,'' Nugent said. ''We really started to hit the offensive boards, the kids really stepped up.''
One of the sparks in that quarter was Dazjah Coleman, who finished with nine rebounds. She was sidelined last season with a torn ACL.
Rosa Velazquez led Jamestown with 22 points while Karisha Tapia had 19 and Annie Campion 17. Chrisanna Green was the rebounding leader with 10.
Hailey Wilwohl led McDowell with 25 points and Mary Smith had 10.
The Lady Red Raiders return to action on Friday when they play host to the United Way Tournament. At 6 p.m., Frewsburg will play Cardinal O'Hara and at 7:30 p.m., Jamestown takes on Dunkirk.
The consolation game is on Saturday at 6 p.m. and the championship game is at 7:30 p.m.
JAMESTOWN ( 81)
Velazquez 9 3 22, Tapia 7 2 19, Nugent 2 4 8, Campion 8 5 17, Green 5 0 10, Butts 0 4 4, Davis 0 1 1, Williams 0 0 0, Pannes 0 0 0, Coleman 0 0 0, Totals 28 19 82.
McDOWELL (53)
Wilwohl 7 9 25, Molnar 0 2 2, Pomkneght 1 0 2, Smith 5 2 12, Kaczamerzk 1 2 4, Kemper 3 0 6, Krysrak 1 0 2, Totals 19 14 53
3-point goals: Tapia 3, Campion 2, Velazquez, Wilwohl.
Jamestown17 21 28 15 - 81
McDowell17 13 13 10 - 53
Jayvees: McDowell won.