Indian Creek junior Taylor Jones seems to show up big in big games, and Saturday was the Redskins’ biggest to date, a rematch with a talented Wheeling Park squad in the OVAC Class 5A Championship game.
She finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds in one of her best games of her career. And yet, it nearly also become one of her worst memories. Tied 38-38 with less than 20 seconds in the fourth, Jones was fouled going for the potential game-winning shot in the low post.
A 72-percent free throw shooter, Jones had nailed 12 in a row.
Both shots rimmed in and out. Luckily for her, Wheeling Park wasn’t able to dent the scoreboard before the buzzer and the game went into overtime. On the bench, Creek coach Steve Eft had a quick chat with his post.
“She was a bit down,” Eft said. “We had to build her back up. We have stressed all year just to go out and make the next play. You’ll get another shot to win this game and she did.”
Teammate Maddy Taylor hit a couple big baskets underneath in overtime and Jones again was fouled. This time, Creek had a four-point lead and she calmly drained both ends of the two-shot foul to help her team secure victory and its fourth OVAC basketball title and first since 2010.
“I was real scared at that point,” Jones admitted about how she felt after missing the two free throws near the end of regulation. “I was happy I got a chance to redeem myself.”
Redemption earned, but Jones could have carried her head high regardless. She was a big reason her team was in position to win in the first place. Offensively, she scored 15 on 6 of 12 shooting and 5-of-7 at the line, but it was her defensive and rebounding efforts that were just as important.
“She’s aggressive,” Eft said. “She puts herself in good spots and is a great rebounder. It’s her biggest strength and I’m super proud of her to have a game like this.”
Wheeling Park is a dangerous perimeter shooting team. Early on, Shanley Woods and Lindsey Garrison
were struggling finding the stroke from the outside. Jones compounded that problem by owning the boards and nullifying any hopes of second shot opportunities in the first half.
But Park isn’t just a 3-point shooting team. They have athleticism and can score in the paint as well, in particular, utilizing the talents of 5-11 forward Bella Abernathy. Creek played primarily a one-on-one defense and Jones was matched up on Abernathy. She blocked two of her shots and hassled the Patriots post all game.
Abernathy finished with 12 points, but most came off ball screen where Jones switched up to guard a smaller player while Abernathy took advantage of a smaller defender after the screen.
“The first time we played Park we had trouble getting through the ball screens, so we decided to switch on every screen and keep the pressure on the guards,” he coached explained. “Taylor is a long and athletic girl and she did a great job defensively.”
She’s also a humble young lady, one focused on the team more so than personal achievements. After turning in an MVP-like performance, she earned the John Howell Memorial MVP Award, But again, her main focus was the team effort.
“This was a big team win right here,” Jones said. “We’ve been working a lot the last six years and we’ve all been together since middle school and this was a good way to show all the work we’ve been putting in.”
Mission accomplished, as a team, and individually by this young lady.
