Chandler scores 25 in Lady Raiders’ win
Jocelyn Chandler scored 25 points, while Chrissy McLee added 13 and Jillian Monahan 10, to lift Uniontown’s girls basketball team to a 66-37 exhibition win over Brownsville as part of a girl-boy doubleheader Tuesday night at A.J. Everhart Memorial Gymnasium. Her total leaves Chandler only 68 points shy of the 1,000-point plateau three games into her junior season, but she is unwilling to think about individual accomplishments, especially after what she felt was a less-that-perfect outing for the 4-0 Red Raiders.
“It was not our best effort,” Chandler said. “We all know we can play better than we showed tonight, so this game gives us something else to work on.”
And what would that something be?
“Defense, definitely defense,” Chandler said. “We’re just not where we’re supposed to be, but I know we can get it done.”
That’s part of the reason she isn’t dwelling on getting to or beyond 1,000 career points, where she would join Becky Oglevee as the only two Uniontown girls basketball players in the school’s 1,000-point club.
“I just come to play,” she said. “And besides, I wouldn’t get any points if it wasn’t for my teammates. I just come to play and to win each game.”
The game was basically over early, as the Class AAAA fifth-ranked Red Raiders built leads of 13-2, 25-10 and 45-21 along the way. But even coach Annie Malkowiak wasn’t overly impressed.
“I saw a few things I liked,” Malkowiak said. “But we’re not playing defense as well as we can. We’re not moving. We’ve got to get better before section play starts. But we still held a team to 37 points.”
The Red Raiders also got sloppy at the foul line, where they managed to make only 11 of 22.
“Foul shooting is always a concern,” Malkowiak said. “Tight games are won at the free throw line. We shoot tons of free throws in practice, when we’re tired and when we’re fresh. This is going to come back and haunt us if we don’t start making them.”
For Brownsville coach Greg Golembiewski, this game, like the Lady Falcons first two games, was a learning experience.
“We’re here to get better,” Golembiewski said. “We’re learning and trying to get ready for our section schedule. We’re getting better. I told the girls that we’re good, but we’re not good enough that we can afford a lot of turnovers (20).”
Maggie Craig paced Brownsville with 12 points.