Brookville overcomes JF girls with fourth-quarter run

Trailing 27-22 to start the fourth quarter, Thursday night at Seminole District rival Jefferson Forest, Brookville junior point guard Emilee Dunton took matters into her own hands to get the ball to her teammates inside.

The Bees (12-1, 7-1 Seminole) rallied to capture the lead for good just two minutes into the final period and held on for a critical 33-30 victory over the Cavaliers.

“Emilee did a good job of penetrating into the paint and then dishing it down low to one of their post players,” JF first-year coach Paul Redgate said. “She had several assists to Talisha Watts and Lindsey Sharman,” Brookville’s only double-digit scorer with 10 points.

That was something the Bees had trouble doing through the first three quarters.

“Both defenses played well,” Redgate said. “It was a very physical game, especially inside. There were very few open looks for either team.”

But the Cavaliers (8-8, 4-4) got into foul trouble in the fourth quarter with senior center Renae Brooks fouling out with two and a half minutes to go and leading scorer Jessie Quarles (12 points) picking up her fifth foul with just over a minute to play.

“Our two post players fouled out so that took a lot of our presence inside out of the game,” Redgate said, noting Brooks had blocked six shots. “At the end of the game, it took us a little bit out of our rhythm.”

JF guard Kelsey Clay sank three 3-pointers within a span of a minute and a half in the third quarter to account for all nine of her points. She also distributed five assists.

“We went from being down three to up six and that opened some things inside,” Redgate said.

But Forest converted only one of its five free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter and failed to attempt a potentially tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

“It went right down to the wire,” Redgate said. “We had the ball with five seconds left, they pressured us and we couldn’t even get a shot off.”

The win keeps Brookville within one game of district leading Staunton River, which dealt the Bees their only defeat. Forest, which lost its first meeting at Brookville by nearly 20 points, remains in fourth place in the Seminole standings behind the Golden Eagles, Bees and Rustburg.