The562’s coverage of Jordan Athletics is sponsored by former LBUSD superintendent Chris Steinhauser and the Timu Foundation.
When the Jordan Panthers saw their lead disappear midway through the third quarter against Roosevelt on Thursday night, they just had to remember who they were.
J-Town got back to their style of play, and leaned on senior point guard Janiah Lorn on their way to a 47-32 victory in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs at Browning High.
“I really feel like the difference was our preparation,” said Jordan head coach Wesley Rosenbaum. “The girls were locked in for the last practices that we’ve had. Everyone’s been there, they’ve been in shape, they’re working hard. And I felt like in the fourth quarter, (Roosevelt) started gassed out, and we were able to keep the momentum going.”
Jordan started that final quarter on a 10-2 run, turning a 26-25 lead to 36-27 in a hurry. They ended up winning the fourth frame by a score of 21-7 to pull away for victory. The 21 points matched the combined score of both teams for the entire first half.
“We didn’t really play our style in the first half,” explained Lorn, who was sitting on just two points as J-Town led 12-9. “We’re supposed to bring it all four quarters, empty our tank out and be relentless all four quarters. And I feel like we only did that the second half, but it was a great feeling. We won, and we’re going to the second round. And it’s only up from there.”
She said the talk at halftime from her coaches shifted her mentality, and turned her from being a pass-first point guard to a threat who was looking to score whenever she had the ball in her hands.
“All my coaches kept telling me I’m passing too much, I’m being too passive,” Lorn said of the halftime talk. “I need to look to score more. I need to be more selfish. I need to get to the rim more. Because when I get to the rim and I keep going, it’s no stopping me now.”
Lorn had 16 of her team-high 18 points in that second half, doing a nice job getting runouts off forced turnovers or rebounds. That quickly turned defense into offense and prevented Roosevelt from getting their zone defense set.
After the Mustangs took their one and only lead at 17-16 with 3:32 left in the third, Lorn really went into “Go Mode.” From that point on, she scored 14 points while Roosevelt’s entire team scored 15.
“This is not possible without her, she’s our glue,” said Rosenbaum of his point guard. “She does so much for us. We’re leaning on her to be a little bit more offensive-minded, and she’s very unselfish. We want her to be a little more aggressive with shot attempts … And she was able to convert some big buckets down the stretch and just came through for us. I’m super proud of her.”
But Lorn was not alone in putting the game away for Jordan. Fellow senior Jah’asharee Moore added nine points, was a force on the glass and had a handful of really nice assists throughout the night. Junior Harmony Isaac added eight points, along with freshman Mila Hunt. Another ninth grader, Brielle Dickson, also provided some quality minutes off the bench for Jordan.
On the other side, Roosevelt freshman Kristen Ly led the way for the visitors with 16 points of her own, but fouled out with just under three minutes left to play.
J-Town marches on to round two, where they’ll make the drive up north to play Lancaster on Saturday evening. Rosenbaum said he expects to be routinely challenged in this Division 4 bracket, and will work to get his team prepared for their next test.
“I know the whole division is competitive,” he said. “So when you look at the whole bracket, we know nothing’s going to be easy. So it doesn’t really matter to us who we’re playing. We’re battle-tested, it’ll be a grind, and we’ve just got to prepare, stay together, and keep playing our game.”
