Free-Throw Woes Doom James Wood Boys In 72-67 Loss To Woodgrove

Posted: December 21, 2013
By GREG BRILL
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — If only the James Wood boys’ basketball team had made a few more free throws.

Coming off a lopsided loss to Washington (W.Va.) on Thursday, the Colonels were in Friday night’s game with Woodgrove the entire way, but just couldn’t give themselves enough of a chance to get over the top because they could not make enough free throws.

Missing 19 free throws in a tight home game will leave most teams more often with a loss than a win, and James Wood blew an opportunity to get back on track by falling to the Wolverines 72-67 at Donald H. Shirley Gymansium.

The Colonels shot just 20 of 39 from the foul line (51 percent), missing eight free throws in the third quarter when Woodgrove made a major run to take control of the game, and six more in the fourth quarter when they were trying to make a last-ditch attempt at a comeback.

The Wolverines, who used a crucial 14-2 run in the third to break out to a double-digit lead, made enough free throws down the stretch to hold off the Colonels and shot 26 of 41 (63 percent) in their win.

“It’s the first time this season that we’ve really had an issue at the free-throw line,” James Wood first-season coach Tim Wygant said. “That’s kind of the bottom line and I’ll take full blame for it.

“We need to do a better job in practice simulating those game situations to make their free throws. Unfortunately when it rears its head in a [close] game, it’s pretty obvious. You’ve got two options. You’ve either got to make the shots you take or you’ve got to make free throws.”

James Wood (4-2) did not shoot very well from the field either, making just 22 of 69 shots (32 percent). And besides senior swingman Peyton Crickman (team-high 17 points to go with 12 rebounds), no other Colonel was able to produce consistent offense.

Yet, James Wood had enough chances to come away with a win late.

The game was back and forth in the first half and ended up tied at 25 through 16 minutes. The Colonels took their last lead at 29-27 off a Crickman basket at the 7:11 mark of the third quarter and trailed just 31-30 after senior Ryland Williams made a free throw with 4:52 left.

It was at that stage that Woodgrove (4-4) began to surge.

The Wolverines, coming off a road win against Heritage on Thursday, welcomed back season scoring leader Matt Gilson on Friday after the junior guard had missed three games with an injured foot.

Woodgrove, which played just one senior (Dylan Marshall, four points) against James Wood, got going with a drive from junior forward David Wick (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Gilson followed with an and-one that fouled out James Wood big man Branson Ratlief.

Listed at 6-foot-6, Ratlief picked up three fouls in about a 30-second span in the third and was lost for good with 3:44 still to play in the period.

Woodgrove would have its own foul issues (it lost four players to fouls), but at least the Wolverines took the initiative to attack the rim a little better in the second half than they did in the first.

With 2:41 left, Wick nailed a 3-pointer to send the lead to nine. After Cam Butler (13 points) scored off a drive for James Wood, Gilson made back-to-back 3-pointers, the second an open look off the right baseline with 1:52 left, to send Woodgrove up 45-32 and force a timeout by the Colonels.

Woodgrove would go on to outscore James Wood 23-13 in the third, making 60 percent (9 of 15) of its shots from the field.

A twisting basket off an offensive rebound by Gilson beat the buzzer to help give Woodgrove a 48-38 lead heading to the fourth.

Gilson would score 11 points in the third, 18 in the second half, and finish with a game-high 24 (he made 10 of 13 free throws).

The Wolverines would score 47 second-half points, and getting good guard play helped them through.

“We just got out and made shots in transition,” Woodgrove coach Steve Douglas said. “It’s great to have Matt [Gilson] back. He made some shots, and that’s what he can do.

“One thing he’s really worked on in the off-season is his quickness [Gilson scored off several strong drives], getting the ball off the dribble and hitting shots off the bounce. He can do that really well and he’s gotten a lot stronger so he can hit shots and hit 3s.”

Woodgrove never trailed in the fourth, but James Wood made several runs to make it interesting.

The Colonels were hurt by the loss of Williams (who scored 14 points and had a game-high 15 rebounds but made just two baskets) to fouls with 2:19 left to play and trailing by four points.

Still, James Wood was right there after Nick Goode (nine points, game-high five assists) stuck in a 3-point miss from Butler (2 of 9 behind the arc) with 1:53 left to cut Woodgrove’s lead to 62-60.

But that was as close as the Colonels could get. The Wolverines made 10 free throws in the final 1:27 to hang on and post the program’s first-ever win at James Wood.

Key for Woodgrove in the fourth quarter was the clutch free throw shooting of junior guard Jameson Copeland. With one point through three periods, Copeland went crazy in the fourth, making 8 of 11 free throws and scoring 13 of his 14 points.

All in all, a good road win for the Wolverines.

“The other night down at Dominion, we went 3-for-15 [on free throws], so it was a different tale this time,” Douglas said. “We missed some [Friday], but we also made some that counted.

“We lost four kids to fouls and we had to overcome adversity. We had to make plays and I said [to my bench], ‘Next guy up.’ Our whole bench played and that was a testament to our guys for being ready to play.”

The Colonels will have a week off before taking part in the Boonesboro (Md.) tournament.

“We have a set of really resilient kids,” Wygant said. “They played with a sense of urgency [29 points in the fourth] that we needed to play with for four quarters. Once again, we need to do a better job of simulating that in practice so they can understand what to do at the end.

“They did a very good job of clawing their way back, honestly, making just enough shots and just enough free throws to make it close. But we need to do a better job of getting over the top.”

Wygant praised Woodgrove for having a good game plan and he said he hoped his team would bounce back from what is now a two-game losing streak after starting the season 4-0.

“I’m confident in our kids and our ability to bounce back,” Wygant said. “There was a little disruption in [an offensive] flow. A couple of our individuals got in foul trouble [Friday] and they really couldn’t get in a flow or shoot too well. We just need the opportunities that are afforded to us to capitalize on.”

James Wood outrebounded Woodgrove 44-32 and had just 12 turnovers (four in the second half) in its loss.