Sherando Boys Hold Off Colonels, 67-57

Posted: January 29, 2014
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI

WINCHESTER — Eight days later, the Sherando boys’ basketball team was on the precipice of seeing everything they had worked for crumble apart once again.

But after wasting a 16-point third quarter lead to lose for the fifth time in six games in their last contest — Jan. 20 against James Wood — the Warriors chose to find a reason to believe and dismissed thoughts of failing Tuesday night at the Colonels’ Shirley Gymnasium.

Sherando saw a 29-point first half lead whittled down to six in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors held on for a 67-57 win over Northwestern District rival James Wood to salvage a split in the season series.

“I looked at the my guys and they looked at me, and all we talked about was belief and believing in each other,” said senior Isaiah Williams (game-high 22 points) of Sherando’s second-half mindset.

It didn’t seem as if the Warriors’ mettle was going to be tested on this night, not after running out to a 15-0 lead after five minutes, a 20-4 lead after one quarter, and a 35-9 lead with three minutes left in the first half.

But Sherando (5-8, 3-2 Northwestern) continuously came up with the stops, rebounds and buckets they needed to keep James Wood (10-6, 3-1) at bay in the last nine minutes of the game.

The Colonels scored the last nine points of the first half to get to 35-18, and extended its run to 26-7 to get within 42-35 with one minute left in the third. Sherando built its lead up to 14 again at 52-38 with six minutes left before a 10-2 James Wood run made the score 54-48 Sherando with four minutes left.

The Colonels would get no closer. But both coaches were able to go home Tuesday night satisfied because of how their teams were able to respond to adversity.

“We knew they were a great shooting team, and shoot, we needed every point that we got tonight,” Sherando coach Garland Williams said. “I told the guys that I thought we played a great first quarter and a great second quarter for about six minutes, but we let down a little bit and gave them that momentum.

“But I think things went fairly well in the third quarter and the fourth quarter to hold them off, and get a much-needed win. Our record doesn’t show we’re a pretty good team, but I feel if we start putting things together that we’ll get that belief out to everybody that we’re a team that can make some noise.”

Sherando’s intensity — and James Wood’s lack of intensity in Colonels’ coach Tim Wygant’s eyes — resulted in a first quarter that saw James Wood commit eight turnovers while making just 2 of 9 shots. Sherando made 7 of 15 field goals and had a 12-5 rebounding edge in that quarter.

But on the strength of a comeback led by Ryland Williams (26 points, six steals), the Colonels’ fans were roaring as James Wood launched its comeback, and a jumper by Williams made it 42-35 with 1:04 left in the third.

If not for the final seconds of the third quarter, maybe James Wood would have gotten over the hump. But Isaiah Williams was able to score on a fastbreak layup after James Wood committed its only turnover of the half with 10 seconds left, and Azjier Outlier gathered in a long rebound off a Ryland Williams miss and pushed the ball ahead, allowing Grant Golden (21 points) to barely beat the buzzer and give Sherando a 46-35 lead after three quarters.

“That was big momentum for us there,” Garland Williams said.

James Wood closed to within 54-48 on a Ryland Williams 3-pointer — one of eight that the Colonels hit on 27 attempts — but after a couple Sherando free throws Isaiah Williams hit a free throw to finish a three-point play that made it 59-48 with 2:31 left after Jeremiah Curtis (14 points, 11 rebounds) started a fastbreak with a rebound.

Free throws made a big difference in Tuesday’s game, as Sherando hit 21 of 29 while James Wood made just 5 of 12.

As disappointed as Wygant was with the way James Wood played a at the outset, he couldn’t have been prouder with the way the Colonels regrouped.

“It was a situation where we kind of got a little bit away from what we do offensively [early in the game],” Wygant said. “I think defensively we did the right things — we were intense, flying to the basketball, causing turnovers, causing loose balls — but offensively we came out kind of stagnant and a little complacent. We weren’t attacking the seams that we know we can attack, and we ended up attacking those in the second half. It was a story of two mindsets.”

Wygant said if James Wood can play like it did in the second half, he likes it potential.

“The kids showed unbelievable character [Tuesday],” said Wygant, whose squad was also playing its first game since the Sherando game. “This is the second game in a row where we’ve fought back and did not give up. I feel as though we can play anybody when we play with that type of intensity. We outscored them by [16] in the last [21 minutes].”

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