December 8, 2010

By Mark Sawyer
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER- Sometimes there's just no place like home.

After suffering a disappointing season-opening loss last week at Battlefield, the James Wood boys' basketball team lit up the only working scoreboard at Shirley Gymnasium Tuesday night, rolling to a 91-59 victory over Musselman (W.Va.).

Senior Mason Smith led the Colonels with a gam-high 23 points and 12 rebounds.

"We've been waiting for that," said Al Smith, James Wood's coach and Mason's father. "I just liked our intensity the entire game. They played extremely hard, and the defensive intensity was there. I hope that continues and we build upon that. We executed mainly what we'd like to do." James Wood (1-1) snapped a 10-10 first quarter tie with a 9-0 run and never looked back. During the run, four Colonels scored, and Wood pushed the lead to 10 on two occasions before the Applemen (0-1) closed the period on a 5-2 run to cut the lead to 25-18.

Although the Colonels only made five field goals in the second quarter, they still extended the lead, as their defense held Musselman to just four, and they were able to get to the free throw line. In the second quarter alone Wood shot 19 free throws (connecting on nine of them).

After Musselman got to within 29-24 early in the second, James Wood went on a 7-2 run to push the lead back to 10. It was 44-30 before Musselman's Terrance Pearman hit a shot just before the break.

The Colonels broke the game open in the third quarter, outscoring the Applemen 27-14. A 13-2 run to end the quarter gave them a commanding 71-46 lead - and gave the starters the rest of the night off.

Playing just as hard and aggressive as the guys before them, Wood's reserves outscored the Appleman 20-13 in the fourth quarter with Joe Davet leading the way with seven points and Jake Lewin adding five.

"The guys were able to close it out well, and they rebounded well," Smith said. "I thought everyone had a good game. If we can stay focused, continue to build on the effort, and keep playing with that kind of intensity and effort I think we'll be pretty good."

Chad Potter chipped in 14 points for the Colonels, while Ryland Williams had 11 and Tyler Murphy added nine.

The Applemen were led by Tim Potter's 15 points and Trevon Wesco's 12.

If there was one red flag for James Wood, it was the free-throw shooting. The Colonels accomplished their goal of getting to the line, shooting 48 free throws in the game. But they missed (20) almost as many as they made (28), which in a closer game may have proved to be costly.