Colonel Boys Worn Down By Washington (W.Va.) In 65-47 Loss

Posted: December 20, 2014
By JOSH DORSEY
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — The play of the night in Friday’s boys’ basketball game between James Wood and Washington (W.Va.) went to the Colonels. The rest of the game went in heavy favor of the visiting Patriots, who defeated James Wood 65-47 Friday night at Shirley Gymnasium.

Just minutes into the game with both teams struggling to find an offensive rhythm, Washington junior Jaquez Fields (four points) came up with a steal and broke for an open basket. Seemingly from nowhere Colonels freshman Chandler Brooks (14 points, four blocks) soared through the air and pinned Fields’ shot against the backboard, igniting the home crowd.

“I just saw that he was going up, and he wasn’t going up very strong, so I just rose up and that was it,” Brooks said. “Whenever I play I try and give 110 percent. I always go hard and try and motivate my teammates. I try to get them the ball and get everybody hyped.”

Though a spectacular defensive play, the younger Colonels team could not capitalize on the momentum it created. The more veteran Patriots wore James Wood down quarter after quarter before finishing off their first win of the season to improve to 1-3.

“We played good team basketball,” said Washington coach Alex Feliu. “We got an opportunity to get a little bit more physical. We played pretty soft over in Fairmont. I wasn’t really impressed with my effort out there. The kids really took that to heart and did it on the practice court. I thought we played a lot better boxing out and taking away the weak side. We are just smoothing out a little bit of the rough edges.”

The teams exchanged a few baskets early, but once the Patriots grabbed an 8-5 lead after one of senior Ryan French’s (12 points) two 3-pointers of the night they never looked back.

Washington finished out the first quarter on a 6-0 run with stifling defense that held the Colonels to only five points.

“Washington came out and hit us in the mouth and we didn’t respond the way I wanted us to respond,” said James Wood coach Tim Wygant. “When that happens it’s difficult to win regardless of who you are playing.”

The Patriots continued to be more physical than James Wood in the second quarter, winning seemingly every loose ball and converting baskets at nearly double the rate of the Colonels.

“To be honest I don’t think we played very well,” Wygant said. “That’s the bottom line. We didn’t play well. In general I think it was toughness tonight on both sides of the basketball. If I could sum it up it was lack of toughness.”

By the time halftime hit Washington had built a 28-16 lead by going on several four- and five-point runs. A huge portion of the Patriots’ offense came through their three seniors that are growing into stars. French, Austin Shields (22 points) and Kendall Coles (20 points) combined for 54 of Washington’s 65 total points.

“I mean they are seniors. This is their moment,” Feliu said. “They have been working the last four years for this opportunity. They are starting to see now what is expected of them.

“Last year they didn’t get that many minutes so it’s really hard for them to get a feel of what’s expected of them and what they need to do to be the basketball players we need them to be. Last year they came in on spot duty and did a few things here and there because we had such a good team last year. Really the only time they came in was during blowouts. So now they are starting to take ownership of the season and I’m really pleased with that.”

Shields managed his team-high 22 points with incredible consistency, only missing one of his 10 field-goal attempts and going 3 for 3 from the free throw line. While Coles knifed through the defense to score at will near the basket, French had the shooting touch from the outside with his team-high two 3-pointers.

“This was our best game,” Shields said. “We worked hard in practice and we prepared ourselves. We boxed out, we moved the ball around and we were aggressive. We played well.”

The Colonels did show their fight in the third and fourth quarters, pulling within 12 points twice. The runs came mostly by running the offense through the two talented freshmen in Brooks and Kobe Grimes (five points).

“Chandler [Brooks] is a very dynamic player,” Wygant said. “At that point in time we were actually looking for anybody that was going to give us a spark. Chandler is such a dynamic player and he provides that.”

In the end the lead was just too much for the Colonels to overcome, especially with the Patriots converting free throws down the stretch — they finished 15 of 24 in the game.

“It did get a little hairy out there,” Feliu said. “With [Brooks] driving to the basket we started getting little hand checks here and there. We got in a little foul trouble, that’s something we still have to clean up.

“[Wygant] has a really good solid team and you can tell they are going to be a really good team now and probably into the future. As soon as those kids start to grow up, Kobe Grimes and [Chandler Brooks], they are just going to get better and better. They are going to be a team to be reckoned with for quite some time.”