STEPHENS CITY — For the second straight game, a trailing Frederick County opponent had the chance to tie or take the lead in the final minute against the Sherando boys’ basketball team on Friday night.
After leading since the 6:57 mark of the first quarter, the Warriors’ grit kept them from losing their grip on the lead this time around.
Up by two, Sherando’s defense prevented two James Wood shots in the final 15 seconds from going anywhere near the basket, and the Warriors’ Jackson Ogle knocked down both of his free-throw attempts with nine-tenths of a second left to finish off a 43-39 Sherando Senior Night win.
Warriors’ sophomore Reth Puller denied the second attempt after James Wood (6-6, 1-3 Class 4 Northwestern District) inbounded the ball to Ashby Copenhaver from underneath the Sherando (8-4, 2-2) basket with 7.8 seconds left and the score 41-39 Warriors.
The 5-foot-7 Copenhaver didn’t waste much time hoisting a shot, but the 5-foot-9 Puller had him guarded well and had no problems smacking the shot away.
“If he shot it, I was jumping,” said Puller, who scored 11 points. “There was no way he was going to get time to get to the basket. There were too many people there [to do that].
“I did not want to lose this game. I made sure we won this game.”
Sherando coach Garland Williams appreciated Puller’s effort on a night where points were hard to come by, whether shots were challenged or not. James Wood made 13 of 45 field goal attempts and 10 of 18 shots from the line, and the Warriors were 15 of 46 from the field and made 10 of 21 free throws.
“To not only block it but come up with the ball [was big],” he said. “[James Wood] was getting to the basket and making shots [late] that we had no answer for.”
The Warriors had two answers late. Moments before Puller’s block, James Wood’s Ethan Tran dribbled past a Sherando defender, but Sean Benton backed up the play by filling up the lane and forcing a scoop attempt that went straight up in the air. Benton then grabbed the ball on the way down before it went below his waist, though the Colonels would be granted possession after a scramble for the ball ensued.
After Puller’s block, the ball made its way to Ogle. James Wood called timeout after he made his first free throw with 0.9 left, but Ogle made the second. Ogle had left the door open for Wood by missing both of his free-throw attempts with 23.6 seconds left.
“I had to make up for those first two,” said Ogle (game-high 13 points) when asked about his last trip to the line.
James Wood forced Sherando — which lost 53-51 to Millbrook last week after the Pioneers took the lead on a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left — to dig deep after the Warriors were in complete control early. Sherando led 12-2 after one quarter and 23-6 with 5:38 left in the second quarter.
“James Wood is a really, really good team,” Williams said. “We’re at their level. They can get hot and scorch you up. Whether we win by one or two, or win by 20, we’re glad we got the win.”
Sherando was 9 of 17 from the field after Puller’s steal and layup made it 23-6 with 5:38 left in the second quarter. The 6-foot-4 Ogle had seven points in the quarter, five of which came as a result of catching inbound passes and quickly putting the ball toward the basket (he was fouled on the first made basket and made the free throw for a three-point play).
“We were going through the offense and pushing the ball pretty well,” said Ogle’s of the Warriors’ start.
After five straight points from Brodie Sirbaugh made it 23-11 with 4:22 left in the half, the Colonels switched to a zone. The Warriors only made one shot the remainder of the half, a 3-pointer by Puller, and the Colonels whittled their deficit to 26-17 at halftime as a result of their 11-3 run.
James Wood coach Ben Bates prefers to play man defense. But the Colonels worked on zone in practice on Thursday, and Bates thought it could pay dividends on Friday.
“Sherando has some size, and that bothered me a little bit,” Bates said. “I was worried about fatigue with some of our guys not playing or doing as much as some of the other guys [due to weather affecting training]. Mid second quarter we went to it, then we spotted it [in terms of usage] in the second half.
“I think it allowed us to kind of exhale. Anybody who knows Sherando knows they’re going to run their offense, and they’re going to run it well. We just tried to keep them off balance as best as we could.”
James Wood whittled its deficit to 34-28 at the end of third quarter, but a deep 3-pointer by Puller made it 37-28 with 6:25 to go. The Colonels focused on man defense the rest of the way and went on a 9-2 run to claw within 39-37 with 3:01 left when Tran (eight points) followed his own miss off a drive.
“He gave phenomenal minutes off the bench,” said Bates, noting that Tran couldn’t practice on Thursday due to illness. “He was huge for us today, really on both ends of the ball. He was just getting downhill and making some things happen. I think he bothered then some because of his quickness and his athleticism.”
With the score 39-37 Sherando, Tran missed a turnaround that hit off the rim and glass with two minutes left that could have tied it, and Sherando’s Landon Dahlinger (eight points, four steals) came up with the rebound. Sirbaugh committed his fifth foul trying to quickly get the ball from Dahlinger as he dribbled with 1:53 left.
The Warriors then had a patient possession in which they passed numerous times. After Ogle got the ball on the right wing, Sherando finally had an opening. Ogle’s defender cut off the middle of the floor with his positioning, but he left a dribbling lane toward the right side. Ogle put the ball on the floor and finished with a strong layup as Wood’s help defense met him in the paint to make it 41-37 with 1:05 left.
Copenhaver answered with a jumper to make it 41-39 Warriors with 48 seconds left, but that would be it for the Colonels scoring.
Bates wishes he called a timeout with 7.8 seconds left to try and set up a better look at the basket than the one Copenhaver had at the end.
“I thought maybe we could get something going to the basket,” Bates said. “I put [Copenhaver] in a bad place to get a shot off. I told the team that falls on me.”
The Region 4D standings are tight — six of the seven teams are .500 or better, and only five make the playoffs. The Colonels are 6-2 in their last eight games and right in the thick of things.
“I feel like we’re there,” said Bates, whose team is at Kettle Run on Saturday. “We’re starting to probably raise some eyes in our own area.”
Michael Bell also scored eight points for James Wood, and Ronnie Barrett added seven points. Joshua Miller chipped in six points for Sherando, which will host Skyline on Monday.
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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