Junior guard Shannon Jack and junior forward Jordan Korinek combined for 28 points in the first half alone, and host St. Vincent-St. Mary cruised past Garfield 81-31 on Monday afternoon.
Korinek and Jack did most of their damage in the first two quarters and St. V-M (7-3) built a 30-point first-half lead thanks to size, shooting and a strong transition game. Korinek finished with a game-high 20 points, and Jack scored 19 points.
This was the first game for the Fighting Irish in 10 days, so St. V-M was certainly rested. Although coach Joe Jakubick was concerned with the time off, he was pleased that his team was ready to go Monday.
“We’re just trying to get back,” he said. “We hadn’t [played] in 10 days, so it’s been awhile. You worry about rust, about not being in competition. But for the most part, we came out and played well.”
The Irish are also trying to come back from several significant injuries. Junior Cassie Jakubick is out for the season. Freshman Amelia Motz broke her finger in three places and has been out of the lineup. Joe Jakubick is awaiting word from the doctors whether Motz can return soon. If the Irish get the go-ahead, Motz will return to the lineup in a matter of days, he said. Senior Erika Bratton has been playing with a torn ACL in her knee.
“It’s been a constant work in progress,” Jakubick said of the turnover in the rotation that St. V-M has endured. “We gotta get healthy. We’ve been balancing a lot of the injuries for the girls who will come back this season. We’re trying to get our younger players some experience and to be able to execute better on the floor. We’ve got a long ways to go.”
Jakubick does see some positives in a trial-by-fire regular season for several reserve players on the roster.
“There’s no doubt that with the injuries we’ve had, the adversity we’ve faced has made us better,” he said. “It’s forced other players to step up and play roles on the team they wouldn’t normally play, like Kiley May. She’s being asked to run our team and do a lot. And Shannon [Jack] has helped in sharing some of that responsibility.
“It’s forced some other younger players to come in and play, too. Like Jane [Uecker] and Alexis Taylor, who is a junior but this is her first year in our system. They’ve all done a nice job with it.”
Uecker, a freshman, scored 11 points Monday. May, a junior, had six points. Taylor added four. Bratton also scored four, but the leadership she’s shown has been more valuable to Jakubick than any scoring total she could put up from game to game.
“She’s just been doing a really great job for us,” he said. “I didn’t play her much today because of the game, but she’s been providing a lot of senior leadership.”
Garfield was led by senior Khryshan McCallister, who scored 16 points and had all but five of Garfield’s first-half points. Autumn Brown came off the bench to score seven points for the Golden Rams.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the high school blog at http://www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
