WINCHESTER — Friday night’s game at Shirley Gymnasium was an emotional affair for both James Wood boys’ basketball and visiting Sherando, as the two teams wore their hearts on their sleeves during a contest that was decided in the final minute of play.
Mere hours after Paul Hvozdovic was officially announced as James Wood’s interim head coach following Chris Higgs’ resignation, the Colonels found themselves in a 33-19 halftime hole. Nonetheless, they rallied and cut the lead to 47-46 with 1:12 remaining behind a 16-point second half from senior guard Ashby Copenhaver.
On the other side, Sherando wanted no part of another last-minute defeat following its recent 54-52 loss to Central. The Warriors fought tough for four quarters en route to a 51-49 victory that improved them to 1-2. James Wood fell to 1-1.
“We were just trying to keep possession of the ball, try to run the clock out right there,” Sherando senior forward Jackson Ogle said of his team’s late-game performance. “You’re just trying to keep it away from them, and then play some defense and try to get a stop.”
Ogle, along with junior guard Reth Puller and freshman guard Moses Hughes, led Sherando with nine points.
The Warriors secured the win by managing the clock well in the final 72 seconds. They moved the ball around until they lured James Wood into committing its fifth foul of the quarter. This sent senior Angel Guzman to the line, where he made both of his free throws to extend the lead to 49-46 with 36 seconds left.
After a carry was called on the Colonels, the Warriors regained possession with 23 seconds left, leading to Hughes making both of his free throws with 17 seconds remaining after being intentionally fouled for a 51-46 edge. Although senior guard Brodie Sirbaugh made a three with seven seconds left, the Warriors wouldn’t surrender possession again on their way to victory.
“I’m glad we were able to be in control so that we had the right folks get the ball [at the end],” Sherando head coach Garland Williams said. “Some of our top free-throw shooters, they knocked down some free throws. Hats off to James Wood. They really came out and had us really close to being in defeat. So one, we have to learn that we’ve got to play better defense, and two, no lead is a safe lead.”
Though Williams commended the Colonels for their performance, there was nobody in the gym more impressed with James Wood’s play than its new head coach. Hvozdovic said he was moved by the effort his team displayed after a chaotic 48 hours.
“We were able to make a couple adjustments on the defensive end that slowed the game down for us, and, most importantly, we didn’t give up,” Hvozdovic said. “Handling the adversity on the court was something that makes me incredibly proud to be a Colonel. I can’t thank the seniors enough for the fight that they showed tonight, leading us into the battle and into the adversity that we faced.”
Hvozdovic also noted that his team was “able to attack the basket a little bit more in the second half,” and a huge reason for that was the efforts of Copenhaver and Sirbaugh, who scored 18 and 14 points, respectively, and helped the Colonels win the second half 30-18.
The backcourtmates began building momentum in the third quarter when Sirbaugh found Copenhaver for a corner three that cut the deficit to 33-22 with 7:08 on the clock. Across the rest of the quarter, Sirbaugh struck on two steal-and-scores in transition, the second of which cut Sherando’s lead to 38-30 with 3:53 left.
From here, Copenhaver scored four points in the last 98 seconds of the quarter to cut the lead to 43-37 going into the fourth. During the final frame, he made a catch-and-shoot corner three to make it 43-40 before hitting a midrange jumper to cap off a 9-0 run and cut the Warriors’ advantage to 43-42 with 5:56 remaining.
Hvozdovic said Copenhaver’s scoring burst played a huge part in the team’s comeback effort.
“[He was] certainly bringing the ball up the court, handling some of their defensive pressure, but ultimately trying to drive middle,” Hvozdovic said. “There were a couple really solid elbow jumpers that fell in the second half, and he was a huge reason why we were able to battle the way we did.”
After a pair of putback baskets by Ogle stopped the bleeding and extended Sherando’s lead to 47-42 with 3:38 remaining, Copenhaver recorded two more points before Sirbaugh scored a few possessions later on a contested layup to cut the lead to 47-46 with 1:12 left in the game. From there, the Warriors calmed things down and earned the win.
Though James Wood’s shotmaking was a massive reason the game became close, Sherando’s issues finishing around the basket resulted in it coming away empty-handed on multiple possessions despite nine second-half offensive rebounds.
Williams said his team’s issues in the paint hurt it down the stretch, but also noted Sherando’s rebounding advantage was a difference maker. Ogle, Puller and several other members of the Warriors’ lineup crashed the glass with vigor all night, helping their team win the rebounding battle 32-21 (13-6 offensive boards).
“We were proud of that. We knew that we had to rebound the ball well, and that was good on that aspect,” Williams said. “I thought we missed some little buckets around the basket that would have definitely helped so that we wouldn’t have had to be in that helter-skelter situation at the end.”
One reason the Warriors never surrendered the lead was that they were better at creating contact than their opponents. Sherando made eight second-half free throws compared to James Wood’s zero.
Sherando’s first-half efforts were also crucial, as it led 21-8 through the first quarter before establishing a 14-point lead at the break. In his third career game, Hughes demonstrated promising skills, scoring on a putback layup and with a nifty crossover that led right into a left-handed finish at the rim in the game’s opening three minutes.
Ogle and fellow senior forwards Sean Benton and Joshua Miller also excelled in the opening half, impacting the game with their rebounding, free-throw shooting and ability to make timely passes to open teammates around the basket.
“Those guys have been around for the last two to three years,” Williams said. “Jack and Josh, they’ve been with us three years. So those guys kind of know what we expect out of them, what we want. And this is their last year, as far as Sherando basketball. So they want to do the very best every night they come out, and they did a good job tonight.”
Following this win, Sherando will return to action on Tuesday at 7:30 on the road against Kettle Run. James Wood lost 57-55 at Clarke County on Saturday to fall to 1-2. The Colonels are next in action on Thursday when they host Liberty.
Hvozdovic thanked the James Wood community for its support.
“The past few days have been amazing to see the school community behind us. They were proud of the fight, and I’m proud of our team, our teachers, our parents,” Hvozdovic said. “I can’t thank them enough for allowing me and coach Quinten and Ethan Abbott and Sandy Myers to lead them into battle and to trust us to do the best we can to show what it means to be a Colonel.”
— Contact Joe Tuman at jtuman@winchesterstar.com
Follow him on X @jtuman21