TMA Girl's BasketballTwo preseason wins at Jones High School: 60-21 over Lake Brantley and 63-59 over JCP. Plus the numbers that jumped out against last season, who stood out, and a three-games-in-three-nights preview that starts with the district opener at Mount Dora Christian.
Nothing But Nest · Episode 1 · Nov 13, 2026 · 9:24
19-0 start, a 17-point lead nearly gone: Eagles beat Lake Brantley and hold off JCP
With Allison and Tyler
Cold open
AAllisonNineteen to nothing. That's how Tuesday night started for The Master's Academy. Two nights later, a seventeen-point lead shrank to two, with three Eagles starters fouled out.
AAllisonThis is Nothing But Nest, your weekly look at TMA women's basketball. I'm Allison.
TTylerAnd I'm Tyler. Two preseason games this week, both at Jones High School, two wins, and they could not have looked more different.
AAllisonWe'll go game by game, dig into the numbers that jumped out against last season, and finish with three games in three nights, starting with the district opener at Mount Dora Christian.
Lake Brantley: 60-21
AAllisonTuesday, against Lake Brantley. Final score, 60 to 21.
TTylerDecided early. We scored the first nineteen points of the game.
AAllisonKenzie Agee had nine of those, including a three. Bethany Burnette added five, Corbi Grinch hit a three, and Alexis Roicki scored inside. Twenty-five to two after a quarter, thirty-eight to six at the half.
TTylerLake Brantley turned it over 21 times and made six field goals all night. They gave the ball away more than three times as often as they made a basket. The Eagles had 16 steals, four from Agee and three from Grinch.
AAllisonOn offense, 15 of the Eagles' 26 baskets came off assists. Kacey Hopkins went four for four. Agee and Roicki each scored 14, and Roicki added 13 rebounds, seven on the offensive glass.
TTylerMy favorite number: nine different Eagles scored. Arrianna Salama scored three straight Eagles baskets across the first and second quarters, Nova Kelley scored in the fourth, and Munroe Giordano had the final basket.
AAllisonHold on to that depth point. It matters next week.
JCP: 63-59
AAllisonThursday, The Master's Academy beat JCP, 63 to 59. And this one had three acts.
TTylerAct one. The Eagles led 14 to 7 after a quarter, and Alivia Birkett scored the last five points of it.
AAllisonAct two opens with JCP scoring the first seven points of the second quarter, a three and four free throws, to tie it at 14.
TTylerBurnette broke the tie with a three, and that started a 22 to 10 run to finish the half. Grinch scored seven straight Eagles points in the middle of it, Roicki scored eight in the quarter, and Burnette hit another three for the last points of the half. Thirty-six to twenty-four.
AAllisonAct three. We led by as many as 17 in the third quarter. It was 54 to 43 going to the fourth, and a Roicki basket made it 58 to 45.
TTylerThen, shortly after that basket, Hopkins picked up her fifth foul. From that point on, JCP outscored the Eagles 14 to 5.
AAllisonAnd the Eagles didn't make another field goal. All five of those points came at the free-throw line. I count eight straight missed shots and four turnovers in that stretch. Agee also fouled out in the fourth.
TTylerJCP's nine-point run made it 60 to 57. Alivia Birkett split two free throws. JCP scored again, 61 to 59, and on that play Roicki was called for her fifth foul.
AAllisonSo that's three starters out, and JCP has a free throw to make it a one-point game. They miss. They grab the offensive rebound, miss again, grab another one, and call timeout. Then JCP goes to the line for two with a chance to tie, and they miss both.
TTylerThe Eagles turned it over, JCP got one more look and missed, Burnette grabbed the rebound, and Grinch made two free throws to close it out.
AAllisonGrinch finished with 14 points, five rebounds and three steals, and went five of six at the line. Roicki had 22 points on 11 of 17 shooting and 15 rebounds.
TTylerAnd credit JCP. Down 17 in the third, they kept attacking the basket and got to the line 33 times.
The numbers
AAllisonWhich is the story of that game. From the field, the Eagles made seven more baskets than JCP, 25 to 18. At the line, JCP made 11 more free throws, 21 to 10.
TTylerHopkins, Agee and Roicki all fouled out, and Burnette finished with four. In the third quarter alone, JCP scored 12 of their 19 points at the line. That's how a 17-point lead became 11.
AAllisonSo the thing to clean up is defending without fouling. We need Roicki, Hopkins and Agee on the floor in the fourth.
TTylerNow let's zoom out. Two preseason games is a tiny sample, so these are early signals, not conclusions. And remember, there's a new coaching staff this season, so this team is still learning a new system and new expectations.
AAllisonWith that said, start with turnovers. Last season, across 28 games, the Eagles averaged about 21 turnovers a game. This week: 11 and 12.
TTylerRoughly half. And last season the Eagles had fewer than one assist for every two turnovers. This week, more assists than turnovers, 24 to 23.
AAllisonThe defense hasn't gone anywhere, either. Sixteen steals Tuesday, 15 Thursday, right around last season's average of 15.
TTylerShooting: 46 percent from the field this week, against 34 percent last season. The Lake Brantley game helps that number, so let's check back in a month.
AAllisonAnd the number that hasn't moved: free throws. Fourteen of 32 this week, 44 percent. Last season it was 49. In a four-point game where we shoot 10 of 20 at the line, that's the margin.
TTylerOne big exception: Grinch. She's six of eight at the line through two games, after shooting about 36 percent from the line last season.
Who stood out
AAllisonPlayer by player. Alexis Roicki first.
TTylerTwo games: 36 points, 28 rebounds, 61 percent from the field, and 13 offensive rebounds. Last season she averaged about 12 points and 10 rebounds and shot 42 percent.
AAllisonCorbi Grinch's 14 against JCP is more than she scored in any game in last season's box scores. Her high there was 12. She has 18 points, five assists and six steals through two games.
TTylerKenzie Agee: 14 points against Lake Brantley with two threes, then four points, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks against JCP. Seven steals for the week.
AAllisonKacey Hopkins went six of nine from the field with five steals. Alivia Birkett went four of five with five steals, and her eight points against JCP matched her best game in last season's archive.
TTylerBethany Burnette made three threes, including the one that broke the tie against JCP. And Ariella Birkett had five assists and scored the Eagles' first basket of the fourth quarter Thursday.
AAllisonAnd the rest of the rotation against Lake Brantley: Arrianna Salama scored six on three of five shooting. Munroe Giordano had four points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Nova Kelley made her only shot, and Olivia Franklin added a rebound and an assist.
Next up
AAllisonNext week: three games in three nights.
TTylerTuesday at Mount Dora Christian, 6 p.m., the district opener. Wednesday at home against Discovery, 7 p.m. Thursday at Winter Park, 7:30.
AAllisonMount Dora Christian beat us twice last season, 38 to 33 and 32 to 29. Eight points total, across two games.
TTylerAnd those box scores tell a story. Mount Dora Christian made seven threes in the first meeting and six in the second. In the first game, the Eagles turned it over 25 times. In the second, just nine turnovers and 21 offensive rebounds, but 10 of 52 shooting.
AAllisonDifferent season, different rosters. But if this week's turnover numbers are real, that's the kind of game the Eagles can swing. My keys: close out on shooters, finish at the rim, make free throws.
TTylerThen Discovery. The teams split last season, and the Eagles won the January meeting at home, 50 to 39. And Winter Park, who the Eagles beat 36 to 34 in January. You'll see Winter Park again on November 23 in a tournament game.
AAllisonThe thread through the whole week is fouls. Three games in three nights, and Thursday showed what happens when Roicki, Hopkins and Agee are on the bench. That's where Tuesday's depth comes in.
TTylerMy stat to watch: free-throw attempts, theirs versus ours. JCP shot 13 more than we did on Thursday. Close that gap, and this team is tough to beat.
AAllisonMine is turnovers. If the Eagles stay around a dozen a game against district teams, that's a real change from last season.
Sign-off
AAllisonThat's the week. For schedules, results and more, head to nothing but nest dot org. Thanks for listening to Nothing But Nest. I'm Allison.
TTylerI'm Tyler.
AAllisonGo Eagles!