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Sperry Hits Seven 3-Pointers As Jayhawks Cruise

Jamestown Community College’s Hayden Burgeson, right, goes toward the basket while Pitt-Titusville’s Alexis O’Donnell defends during the third quarter of their college basketball game Monday evening at Jamestown CC’s Physical Education Complex. P-J photo by Mark L. Anderson

Jamestown Community College took advantage of a few offensive spurts and some poor shooting from Pitt-Titusville to lead for nearly the entire game en route to a 79-62 women’s basketball victory Monday evening at the Physical Education Complex.

Emilee Sperry (Panama/Panama) led the Jayhawks with 27 points, including seven 3-pointers, as the hosts moved back to .500 for the first time since being 1-1 on the season.

“Once she saw the first one go it, it just got bigger. It just took that one to get the fire going,” Jamestown CC coach Travis Wells said about Sperry. “She’s a shooter. We won’t have to worry about her, she’ll put it in the bucket.”

The Jayhawks received a nice lift off their bench as Kelly Keefe (Jamestown/Falconer) scored 17 points, Jada Jackson (Wellsboro, Pennsylvania/Wellsboro) grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, Alexis Hallberg (Bemus Point/Maple Grove) handed out three assists and Quinn Bankoski (Dunkirk/Dunkirk) chipped in eight points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal.

“When you get that scorer to come off the bench, to have the next person come in and put some points on the board, that’s huge,” Wells said about Keefe before adding about Bankoski, “she did some good things. She’s been working hard in practice. It was good to see Quinn see some success. She cheers for everybody when they are out there playing. It was nice to see them cheer for her.”

Jamestown CC’s Emilee Sperry puts up a 3-pointer with Pitt-Titusville’s Morgan Silvis looking on during the third quarter of Monday evening’s college basketball game at Jamestown CC’s Physical Education Complex. P-J photo by Mark L. Anderson

Pitt-Titusville pulled within 10 midway through the fourth quarter, but was held to just one field goal over the final four minutes as Jamestown CC (4-4) pulled away for the win.

“I told them if you can get it to 10 around five or four minutes, you’ve got a shot to beat them,” Pitt-Titusville coach Mike Grinder said. “It’s probably the fourth or fifth time we’ve had to come back from being 20 down this year.”

The Panthers (2-9) finished the game 19 of 61 from the field (31.1 percent), including just 6 of 27 in the opening 20 minutes, leaving them in a 46-27 hole at halftime.

“It might be the back end of playing Niagara County CC on Sunday, we just didn’t make easy, open looks,” Grinder said. “Twenty-seven percent with 46 percent from the other team, you are going to have a 19- or 20-point deficit at halftime.”

The Jayhawks built the 19-point halftime advantage despite turning the ball over 15 times and committing 15 personal fouls.

“We just weren’t moving our feet and getting in front of people,” Wells said about the first-half fouling. “We work on it, we just have to figure it out.”

Jamestown CC took its first lead on a basket from Jackson to give the Jayhawks a 5-4 lead and Keefe scored seven of the Jayhawks’ final nine points of the opening quarter to for a 21-12 lead after 10 minutes.

Keefe scored on a nice feed from Sperry to open the second quarter and added a pair of free throws to go along with a putback as the Jayhawks forged a 29-14 lead. Pitt-Titusville’s Alexis O’Donnell stopped the run with a 3-pointer, but Jamestown CC continued to grow its lead before Bankoski ended the half with back-to-back baskets for a 46-27 Jayhawks’ lead.

“We’re still young, but we’re making strides,” Wells said. “Being able to play through the funks is something we really have to work on. We had a couple of them, but we have to be able to play through them.”

The Panthers’ shot the ball better in the second half, both from the floor and the free throw line, and actually outscored Jamestown CC, 35-33 over the final 20 minutes, but the Jayhawks’ first-half lead proved to be too much and Sperry hit four more 3-pointers in the final two quarters to help the hosts eventually pull away.

“The one thing we didn’t do with her was force her to drive,” Grinder said of Sperry. “We just let her get comfortable shooting.”

NOTES: Jamestown CC’s Sydney Wight (Wellsville/Scio) just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds while Brianne Davis (Bemus Point/Maple Grove) pulled down seven rebounds. … Morgan Silvis led four Panthers in double figures with 16 points while O’Donnell finished with 14, Samantha McHenry had 12 and Rebecca Fagley had 11. … NaShel Walker led Pitt-Titusville with eight rebounds to go along with nine points. … Jamestown CC returns to action Wednesday at home against Butler County CC before hosting the Tom D’Angelo Lady Jayhawks Classic Tournament this weekend.

PITT-TITUSVILLE (62)

Walker 3-3 3-6 9, McHenry 4-11 4-5 12, O’Donnell 5-21 2-4 14, Fagley 3-11 5-8 11, Silvis 4-11 8-10 16, McLean 0-1 0-0 0, Miller 0-3 0-2 0. Totals 19-61 22-35 62.

JAMESTOWN CC (79)

Sperry 10-20 0-0 27, Burgeson 1-4 0-0 2, Wight 5-11 0-0 10, Davis 2-12 0-0 4, Brunswick 0-2 2-2 2, Lancaster 0-0 0-0 0, Hallberg 1-1 0-0 2, Jackson 3-9 1-4 7, Keefe 6-14 4-4 17, Morrison 0-0 0-0 0, Bankoski 3-6 2-2 8. Totals 31-79 9-12 79.

Pitt-Titusville    12 15 18 17 — 62

Jamestown CC    21 25 16 17 — 79

3-point goals–Pitt-Titusville 2-12 (McHenry 0-1, O’Donnell 2-7, Fagley 0-4), Jamestown CC 8-21 (Sperry 7-16, Burgeson 0-1, Davis 0-1, Brunswick 0-2, Keefe 1-1). Rebounds–Pitt-Titusville 28 (Walker 8), Jamestown CC 50 (Jackson 10). Assists–Pitt-Titusville 5 (Fagley 3), Jamestown CC 22 (Sperry 4). Total fouls–Pitt-Titusville 14, Jamestown CC 22.

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