On Friday night at Gainesville, Keyarah Rainey scored 30, and the Osbourn Park defense limited the Cardinals to just 16 second half points en route to a 52-46 Cedar Run District victory.
Gainesville is a team with state tournament aspirations, but Daniel Nemerow’s squad still has yet to solve the riddle of Osbourn Park, which also has high aspirations. In the school’s short history the girls basketball team has never beaten the Yellow Jackets, and last year’s 23-win Gainesville team fell four times to their district rival.
Early on it looked like Gainesville was in good shape to get a victory. After a dose of Osbourn Park full court pressure defense gave the Yellow Jackets a 14-10 lead, Gainesville out-scored the visitors 20-9 in the second quarter to grab a seven-point halftime lead. Gainesville star guard Madison McKenzie had 15 first half points and the tall Cardinals effectively exploited their height advantage to score down low.
“At halftime we thought we had [defensive] energy and we just needed to bring it back,” said Rainey. “We were down seven and we just knew we had to pick it up from there.”
The Yellow Jackets (5-0, 9-2) certainly did pick up the intensity. They did a far better job on McKenzie, who was only able to score four points in the second half. Despite missing tall forward Alexandra Brown to injury, Osbourn Park battled the Cardinals tooth-and-nail on the boards to limit Gainesville’s second chances. And, when they applied their full court press, Chrissy Kelly’s team got turnover after turnover.
No one was more important to all of that than Rainey. The sophomore guard did it all, garnering steals, leading her team in rebounding, and most importantly, scoring prolifically on a night when Osbourn Park’s outside shots generally weren’t falling. Against Gainesville’s zone she showcased her versatility by manning the high post, a position generally you might see a much taller player play.
It’s back to the drawing board for Gainesville (4-1, 12-2), which will get another crack at Osbourn Park on the road in a few weeks, and then almost certainly again in the playoffs. In addition to McKenzie, sophomore rebounding machine Peyton White had a nice game for the Cardinals, scoring 11 points and grabbing 20 boards.
Sophomore guards Jayel West and Samia Snead scored nine and seven points respectively for the Yellow Jackets, while freshman Payton Walters added five assists. But make no mistake, team defense won this rivalry game for Osbourn Park–and Rainey, who is developing into a star.
“This is great, especially knowing we’re the top two teams in the district,” she said. “It’s a rivalry game and beating them is an accomplishment. We’ve been waiting for this game.”
–Chris Jollay
all statistics are unofficial
| GAINESVILLE | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| NHEK | 0-3 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| McKENZIE | 6-17 | 5-9 | 19 | 4 | 4 | |
| GILLIAM | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| WHITE | 5-8 | 1-2 | 11 | 20 | 2 | |
| MAXWELL | 2-4 | 0-0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | |
| Ellingson | 2-5 | 0-2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Chhabra | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Nemerow | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Abraham | 3-6 | 1-2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | |
| TOTALS | 18-44 | 8-19 | 46 | 35 | 11 | |
| Threes: McKenzie 2-9, Gilliam 0-1, Ellingson 0-2, Nhek 0-3 | ||||||
| OSBOURN PARK | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| WEST | 4-5 | 1-2 | 9 | 6 | 0 | |
| RAINEY | 9-19 | 11-20 | 30 | 9 | 1 | |
| SNEAD | 2-10 | 3-4 | 7 | 3 | 3 | |
| WALTERS | 0-9 | 0-0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | |
| GORHAM | 1-3 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
| Yann | 1-8 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| Matthews | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Justiano | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 17-55 | 15-26 | 52 | 29 | 9 | |
| Threes: Rainey 1-1, Gorham 1-3, Yann 1-6, West 0-1, Walters 0-5, Snead 0-7 | ||||||