WINCHESTER — Thanks to injuries and a run of the flu bug, Handley coach Zach Harrell-Zook has to use a few different combinations than usual during Tuesday’s Northwestern District boys’ basketball matchup against James Wood.
Those reserve players integrated nicely. And along with the veterans, they proved to be too much for the Colonels to handle at Maddex-Omps Gymnasium.
Led by senior Christian Dinges’ 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, the Judges dominated from start to finish in an 89-39 romp. Jaevon Brisco added 15 points as 10 Judges scored in the triumph.
Silas Miller (in the starting lineup with regulars out), and Timothy Campbell each had eight points to lead the players who usually come off the bench. Reserves Asher Mattison (seven points), ZeQuon Williams (five) and Joaquin Pearce-Gonzales (five) also had multiple hoops.
“We’re not quite in shape yet where we need to be so we know we’ve got to spell some of these guys,” Harrell-Zook said after his team improved to 7-2. “Preferably early [in the game], it’s finding what defense works best with this group and what’s the best matchup. … We’re kind of experimenting with some of that stuff. When you come out and get a comfortable lead like that (22-10 after one quarter), you can experiment with some things. We’re trying to find a way to get some of these guys meaningful minutes where they can come in and impact us. It’s mainly be confident when they go in.”
Dinges and Brisco said they enjoyed playing with some of the different combos during Tuesday’s clash.
“It was super fun,” Dinges said. “Our second and third team come out to practice every day and play super hard against us. They are prepared and ready to play.”
“I feel like we did a great job,” Brisco added. “The team chemistry, it’s more than just the basketball court. Everybody on the team are brothers and I feel like we show that every night. With the bond between us, everybody knows where we like to shoot at. Our chemistry is so good you can put anybody out there with anybody.”
The Colonels (2-6) led only once as Brody Sirbaugh canned the opening basket of the game. From there, Brisco started and ended a 12-0 run with a pair of 3-pointers and James Wood never got closer than seven points the rest of the game.
Leading 22-10 after one quarter, the Judges blew the contest open over the next eight minutes. Ahead 27-15 with six minutes before the half, Handley scored 22 straight points to push the margin to 49-15 with 1:15 left.
Campbell had a pair of 3-pointers during the outburst, but Dinges was phenomenal. The senior scored 10 points, including a dunk off a steal by Campbell, that had the crowd roaring. Sirbaugh’s 3-pointer at the buzzer brought the Colonels to within 51-19 at the break.
Dinges’ play was outstanding throughout as he dominated on the glass, fed teammates and rejected several James Wood shots.
“Christian impacted at every facet of the game tonight.” Harrell-Zook said. “That’s what we need him to do every given night — not just score, but rebound, get steals and affect the game with his size and athleticism. … It was just a terrific game for him.”
Coming out of the halftime break, Harrell-Zook pulled the entire starting unit when the Judges gave up five offensive rebounds on James Wood’s initial possession. After they returned at the 5:12 mark, the Judges closed the period with a 14-4 run to make the score 71-30.
Seven straight points from Dinges, including another dunk after a nice feed from Kyren Oglesby (10 points), pushed the margin to 78-33 with 5:18 left.
After a Sirbaugh 3-pointer with 5:03 remaining, Handley’s starters left. Williams’ 3-pointer (Handley’s 11th in the contest) gave the Judges their biggest lead at 89-37 with 53 seconds remaining.
Brisco and Dinges said the Judges learned some valuable lessons in recent losses to powerful Oak Hill (62-43) and Roanoke Catholic (62-60) at the Arby’s Classic that they hope to put in practice for the remainder of the season.
“The Oak Hill game showed us we could compete with anybody,” said Brisco. “We were tied (25-25) at the half. We were bumping with them, but then I think our ego got too high in the next game and we came out flat. We’ve got to come out 100 percent.”
“Those two losses hit me hard personally,” Dinges said. “I hate losses so I’ve come back hungry. We definitely need to crash harder to the boards and box out.”
“It’s getting these guys to play hard for 32 minutes because that’s what it’s going to take,” added Harrell-Zook, who said his team must limit turnovers and offensive rebounds.
Sirbaugh provided the only consistent offense for the Colonels, scoring 20 points on mostly slashes to the basket.
“He’s our fire, our gasoline and our engine — from pushing the ball up the court, to defensively, to leading us in the battle every day at practice,” James Wood interim head coach Paul Hvozdovic said of the senior guard.
The Colonels will look to rebound against Millbrook on Friday.
“We have a very resilient group of young men who have been through a lot of adversity this year,” Hvozdovic said. “There’s no doubt in my mind we’re going to come into practice [Wednesday] ready to battle and ready to push each other around and get better.”
Handley has a pair of tough foes on the horizon. The Judges travel to Skyline (8-2) on Friday and host unbeaten Denbigh (7-0) next Tuesday.
“I like the way we’re playing,” Brisco said. “We’ve got mistakes we can fix, but I think we will fix them and be ready when the playoffs come.”