After leading big, Bartram Trail survives to advance in the District 1-7A tournament

The Bartram Trail Bears went a 35-13 run to defeat the Jacksonville Sandalwood Saints 58-53, on the first day of the District 1-7A tournament. The Bears will play Nease on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The Bears did an admirable job with containing Sandalwood sophomore star Jada Jones. The 6-foot-4 center had offers from Ohio State and West Virginia, but the Bears held Jones to 15 points. 

"She's a really good player. We wanted to make her take difficult shots," Bartram Trail Head Coach Tim Winter said. "When she caught the ball, we tried to have two or three people around to force bad shots. I think she took some uncomfortable shots and we did our best to box out. It wasn't always effective, but we did our best."

Senior guard Angel Roman led the Bears as Roman finished with a team-high 20 points with four assists and five rebounds. She also drained clutch free-throws as she made 11 for the game.

"Sometimes I honestly hung my head," Roman said. "But I knew as a senior, I didn't want my season to end. So, I had to step up and make free-throws."

Sophomore Aja Pollard finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Senior guard Moira McCarthy finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, and drained two three-pointers.

Roman was impressed by her two teammates.

"They had a big impact on both sides," Roman said. "They were very aggressive on defense and they made clutch plays."

The Bears only scored five points and struggled in the first quarter. The Saints capitalized on the Bears' many turnovers, leading 12-5 after the first quarter.

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But Winter didn't allow his team to panic. 

"After the quarter, I think that we took their best shot," Winter said. "We just had to understand that we're going to make a run too. And that's what we did. I think that gave them a little bit of belief"

The turnaround began in the second quarter. 

Pollard opened the quarter by leading a fast break and dished a pass to Roman as she drained a three-pointer from the right wing.

The momentum began to shift towards the Bears a couple of minutes later. Junior center Dyllan Hanna scored a layup while being fouled and shouted "And-1."

The Bears continued to feed off that energy and their defense turned up the heat. They stifled the Saints by holding them to a measly four points. The Bears' offense continued to capitalize off of their defense and exploded for 21 points in the quarter. They led 26-16, at half.

The Bears' defense kept the intensity in the third quarter by holding the Saints to nine points. The Bears led 35-26, after three quarters. 

The Bears expanded their lead to 13 points as they led 47-34, midway through the fourth.

But the Bears went cold from the floor and the Saints took advantage. 

Sandalwood went on a 13-1 run, that was capped by a Kayla Johnson three pointer from the left wing. This cut the lead down to one, making it 48-47, with 55 seconds left.

However, the Bears drained their free-throws when the Saints fouled. Roman made six clutch free-throws in the last minute to seal the win. 

The Bears play Nease next and Winter knows the challenge that lays ahead. His main objective is slowing down junior star guard Sydney Gomes. 

"We need to slow down Sydney Gomes," Winter said. "But I think if we can limit her shots, and make some of the other role players beat us, then I'm confident."

Winter is also concerned about Nease's offense, and wants to slow the game down to fit the Bears' style.

"They've scored in the 70s and 80s at times this year," Winter said. "If we can play the game in the 50s and 60s, then that's probably a little bit more our style. We're a defensive minded team and I think that we'll see if we're up for the challenge."