Matthew Lounsberry mlounsberry@hillsdale.net mlounsberryHDN

JONESVILLE Any basketball coach would love to have a player who can knock down seven three-point baskets in a single game.

Jonesville coach Tom Dunn has two.

On Friday against Quincy, Jonesville guard Koryn Playford sank 7-of-12 shots from behind the arc on her way to a career-high 23 points. The seven triples tied the school record that Playfords teammate, Teya Nichols, set in a game earlier this season.

Her confidence level the past couple weeks is coming up, Dunn said of Playford. You can just see it in her eyes and thats a good thing. She kept us in the game tonight. She shot the ball real well.

Playford scored nearly half of her teams points in a 47-36 win over the Orioles.

One of the big things we talked about was getting to their shooters, said Quincy coach Ritch Adams. We knew No. 5 [Nichols] and No. 1 [Playford] were their shooters. We knew where they were going to be, and we didnt get to them. We allowed too many good shots and they made them.

Nichols scored Jonesvilles first five points of the game, and was the second-leading scorer for the Comets on the night with seven.

Quincy jumped to a 10-7 lead in the opening six minutes, led by eight quick points from senior Hannah Economou.

The first half, Economou killed us inside. We gave her way too many easy baskets in the first half, Dunn said. At halftime, we kind of adjusted how we were going to play her, kind of slowed her down a bit.

Two triples from Playford and a pair of free throws from Sarah Dawson gave the Comets a 15-12 lead after the first. Jonesville used that momentum to begin the second quarter on a 6-0 run.

Trailing 21-12, Quincy chipped away at the lead, cutting their deficit to 26-25 by halftime. Economou, however, picked up her third foul late in the half.

That maybe changed the game a little bit, Adams said of Enocomous foul trouble. But [Jonesville] started defending her a little bit different too. They were keeping one person under the basket, and they werent letting us throw over the top. They were doing a good job on the weak side.

Quincy tied the game 32-32 by the end of the third quarter, but Playford opened the fourth with back-to-back three-pointers to give the Comets a six-point lead.

After the Orioles cut their deficit to 40-36, another Playford triple and two scores on inbound plays from Katie Brown gave Jonesville the win.

[Quincy] hung around until the very end until we could pull away, Dunn said.

Quincy was led by Zoe Aseltine with 13 points, while Economou finished with a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds).

Also for the Orioles, Katie Rathbun had nine points and seven rebounds and Payton Hines added two points, two steals, four rebounds and seven assists.

We didnt execute exactly what we needed to on defense, Adams said. Tuesday against Homer we played terrible, so it did help playing a good game against a good team. Were at the point know, we know we can compete with the good teams.

Playford added four rebounds to her 23 points. Brown finished with six points, eight rebounds and three steals for Jonesville, while Samantha Dunn contributed six points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Dawson had two points, six rebounds, three steals and three assists for the Comets.

Sarah Dawson played outstanding defense tonight, Dunn said.

Jonesville has a quick turnaround, as they travel to Bronson on Monday to face Reading in the district quarterfinals.

We just have to come play defense next week. Were going to live and die on that end of the floor, Dunn said. Weve got to put the ball in the basket, and if we do that, we should be okay.

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Playford lifts Comets over Quincy - Hillsdale.net - The Hillsdale Daily News