By ADAM ZAMPEDRO

Correspondent

MCDONALD — There have been some great 3-point shooting performances over the years in the McDonald gymnasium, and Jackson-Milton freshman Emma Johns added another chapter on Thursday.

Johns did her best Steph Curry impression by swishing five shots from downtown, with every shot from the corner, as the Blue Jays beat McDonald 39-22. She finished with a game and career-high 17 points.

“The corner usually isn’t my favorite spot,” Johns said. “But, I guess today it was. I came in with a lot of confidence. When the first one went in, it really helped me. I kept on seeing that same shot. I’m really excited. I think we’re surprising a lot of people with how we’re playing. I just want to keep improving and become the best team we can.”

The Blue Jays (7-4) might be surprising a lot of people because they didn’t even have a varsity team last season.

Macayle Thornhill (7 points) is the only senior on the team and after not being able to play her junior year, she’s happy to be playing basketball again this season.

“Only two other girls came out to play last year,” Thornhill said. “I didn’t realize how much I liked basketball until I didn’t have a team. We had a good team during my freshman and sophomore years. It was hard to not grow in my basketball career last year.

“I’m excited to be back on the court. I love it. We have a whole new group of girls, and I get to be their leader and really help them grow.”

Another freshman that Thornhill gets to mentor is Hannah Huzyak. Huzyak finished with 11 points after multiple steals and layups.

“We played really good defense tonight,” Huzyak said. “We executed our plays well on offense. We work really well together as a team. I’m really proud of our team for how far we’ve come this year.”

Jackson-Milton’s coach, Jeffrey Wilson, took the job last season. Even though they couldn’t put together a team, he got to see the talent that they had on the horizon.

“I knew there was a chance that we wouldn’t have a team,” Wilson said. “There were just two girls returning. We got to work with the eighth grade girls instead last year. They’re very committed. They have talent and great work ethic. Emma Johns is a great shooter. We could see it last year. She’s got the green light. She’s going to have a game where she makes seven or eight of them. She got us off to an awesome start tonight.”

Johns sank four of her five shots from behind the arc in the first quarter, and Jackson-Milton jumped out to a 19-4 lead after one.

Gracie Callow (7 points) banked a 3-pointer in for McDonald (5-5). Cierra Shiley (7 points) scored down low, and senior Mariah Bregar had a nice take, but the Blue Jays were up 26-13 at halftime.

Thornhill, Huzyak, Johns and freshman Amani Yasin helped Jackson-Milton extend the lead in the second half and pull away.

Now, the Blue Jays will take on Mineral Ridge (9-1) and Springfield (7-4) next week.

“They’re both really good teams,” Wilson said. “Win or lose, we just want to improve. Whether these girls are winning or losing, they don’t stop. Our motto is to keep going, and they certainly do. They hustle and they play hard.”

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