Boys' Basketball - Warriors' subs provide spark in victory over Wood

By WALT MOODY Winchester Star

STEPHENS CITY — Logan Vaught, Tad Dean and Aaron Banks didn’t start for the Sherando boys’ basketball team on Tuesday night.

But, the trio had plenty of impact in the Northwestern District opener against James Wood.

Vaught, Dean and Banks played critical minutes throughout the contest, including the key second quarter when the Warriors opened up a lead that made the difference in a 63-49 victory against the Colonels.

At different points for the Warriors, each of the three players has been a starter. But against the Colonels, Sherando coach Garland Williams had all three coming off the bench.

“That’s what we felt like we had to do tonight,” Williams said. “We had some guys that we felt we needed to start with and those three guys coming off the bench. ... They gave us a great spark. All three of those guys were starters one time and maybe one or two will move back in the starting lineup. We needed someone to come off the bench to give us a little punch and we were fortunate to have all three of them.”

James Wood coach Tim Wygant agrees. His squad did not get single bench point on Tuesday, while Vaught (13), Dean (12) and Banks (4) combined for 29.

“Their team is deep,” Wygant said. “They don’t lose a whole lot when they sub. It is a luxury to have that. They have some guys that can handle the basketball and had some kids make some free throws at the end who were for the most part bench players. They really executed well.”

Each of the three brought a little something different. Vaught handled the ball and slashed to the basket. Dean nailed open jump shots and played tight defense, while the speedy Banks swiped passes and fed teammates for buckets.

“I think we just come in and push the tempo, run the court, get some easy buckets and play good defense,” said Dean of the trio’s role on Tuesday. “I think we all had a good game.”

“I thought we played together today,” said Banks. “We’ve definitely come a long way. We’re getting there.”

The contest got off to an entertaining start as both team’s shot at a blistering pace in the first quarter. Aidan Houser had eight points and Sam Costin added four for the Colonels (4-6, 0-1 district) in the period, while the Warriors countered with baskets from six different players. James Wood’s Vincent Lew drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut a Sherando lead to 18-17.

Costin’s layup to open the second quarter gave the Colonels the lead at 19-18, but that would be their final lead as Williams turned up the heat with a press. Leading 22-21, the Warriors forced multiple turnovers in an 11-2 run over the final 2:50 of the quarter. Six different players had points in the key stretch as Sherando took a 33-23 halftime lead.

“It was lack of execution in terms of their press,” Wygant said. “There were gaps in the press and we did not find them. [It was] a couple of unforced turnovers and lackadaisical passes. A two-point lead went to 10 and we never really recovered from that.”

“Our pressure did help us to get out to a nice lead,” Williams said. “It’s always good to be in front instead of working it from behind.”

And the Warriors (7-5, 1-0) stayed in front with only a small threat from the Colonels. Houser’s 3-point play got Wood to within 38-33 with 4:43 left in the third quarter, but the bench trio came alive again for the Warriors. Dean had five points, while Vaught and Banks added two each in a 9-2 run that gave Sherando a 47-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

James Wood never got closer than nine points as the Warriors closed out the victory. Sherando went 6 of 8 from the line in the final 3:36.

Sherando got plenty of balance. Alex Morefield added 10 points, while Jacquari Hayes added nine. Banks had five assists and could have had a couple more had his teammates converted nice passes.

“I like to get my teammates involved,” Banks said. “It’s a team sport.”

Williams liked what he saw as his squad rebounded from a pair of losses in the Spotswood Holiday tournament.

“We’re on the upswing now,” he said. “We played some games over the holidays and we felt we had two quarters in each of those games that we played well and two quarters we didn’t. Tonight we felt that we had a least a good 31/2 quarters that we played fairly decent.”

Houser (15 points) and Costin (13) presented the most problems for the Warrior defense inside, but were rendered ineffective at times because of the Warrior pressure. Lew added 11.

“It was there for the taking,” Wygant said. “We just didn’t execute. It’s back to the drawing board tomorrow.”

Sherando next travels to Millbrook at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, while James Wood is at Washington (W.Va.) on Saturday.