Handley boys pull away from James Wood in second half

By ROBERT STOCKS | The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — On a night when shots just weren’t falling for Handley — especially from the perimeter — junior guard Kobe Tigney provided the spark that helped the Judges pull away from James Wood in the second half.

Tigney scored a season-high 20 points to lead three Handley players in double figures as the Judges defeated James Wood 63-46 in a Northwestern District contest at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium on Friday night.

Handley junior forward Ra’Shaad Morris added 12 points, and junior guard Keevon Martin scored 10, helping the Judges (13-1, 2-0 Northwestern) win their ninth straight game.

“I thought we did a better job in the second half and midway through the third quarter of picking up our intensity defensively,” Handley coach Jason Toton said. “We started doing things better offensively, getting deeper into the basket and kicking out and making them play defense for long periods of time.”

Just past the midway point of the third quarter, James Wood (4-8, 0-2 Northwestern) trailed by only six after Cameron Firebaugh’s jumper made it 39-33 with about 3:00 left.

From there, the Judges closed the quarter on an 6-2 spurt, getting two free throws from Tigney and a short jumper by Gus Wise. Quentin Davenport’s layup with 1:00 left in the third gave the Judges a 45-35 advantage — their first double-digit lead of the contest.

The Judges missed their first 11 attempts from 3-point range before Tyson Long knocked down a three to put his team ahead 49-36 with 6:40 left in the final quarter. Long’s three started a 7-0 run, including a 3-point play from Tigney and a free throw from Wise, that stretched Handley’s advantage to 53-36 with 6:10 remaining.

James Wood never cut the deficit to less than 11 the rest of the way.

“We just knew the way the fouls were called we just had to be aggressive, but smart,” said Tigney, who scored 19 points twice earlier this season before setting a new season-high Friday night. “We started getting more deflections that led to some fast breaks. We just wanted to get to the basket instead of just pulling up from [three-point range]. We just needed to get to the basket and get to the free-throw line more.”

Tigney certainly did his part getting to the basket. He scored all 20 points, including 8 of 9 from the free-throw line, in the final three quarters.

James Wood coach Tim Wygant said the Judges’ pace and ability to be so active on the defensive end caused his team to tire some in the second half.

“The difference was the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter,” Wygant said. “I think our kids got a little bit gassed. Their athleticism seemed to wear us out a little bit. But I think it was a closer game than the score indicated.”

The Colonels led for most of the first half, scoring nearly half of their 24 points from the free-throw line. Handley committed its 10th team foul with 3:57 left in the first half, and the Colonels shot 10 of 14 from the free-throw line before the break.

The scored was tied twice and the lead changed hands five times in a back-and-forth second quarter.

Martin made a pair of free throws to put Handley ahead 25-24 with 50 seconds left in the half. Following a James Wood turnover, the Judges let the clock run down before Tigney connected on off-balance, fall-away jumper from just beyond the free-throw line at the buzzer to give them a 27-24 lead at the break.

Handley, who played without injured starter D’andre James and sixth-man Kevin Curry, shot just 2 of 14 from the field in the opening quarter, and finished just 1 for 12 from 3-point range in the contest.

“I don’t think we got after it defensively [in the first half], and we stopped the clock too many times, putting them on the free-throw line,” Toton said. “I think they had like 15 free throws in the first half.

“We’re going to have off shooting nights and tonight was one of them. We’ve got to learn to score besides the 3-point line and we didn’t do that in the first half. We played along the perimeter.”

Wygant liked his team’s effort, particularly in the first half.

“The bottom line is they just made more shots in the second half,” Wygant said. “To play a team like Handley that’s very talented, very athletic and very well coached and be within a possession or two at halftime is always a positive.

“That being said, I think we left some points out there in the first half that we probably should’ve converted on. We also had some open shots in the third and fourth quarters that just didn’t go in, and [Handley] was able to stretch [the lead] out a little bit.”

Senior forward Noah Sullivan led the Colonels — who have lost four straight — with 16 points and six rebounds.

Colonels senior guard Ben Sear came off the bench to score nine points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and senior guard Aidan Houser finished with eight points.

“Noah and Aidan [stood out], and Ben Sear came in and gave us good minutes off the bench,” Wygant said. “Chris Vitagliano played about 20 minutes longer than I wanted to because yesterday was his first practice back from being hurt for two months. He really came in and stepped up and gave us some really good minutes. Aidan and Vinny [Lew] played practically the whole game and it’s tough in a game like that.

“That being said, I think we need some of the other individuals to step up and contribute in as many ways as possible — not just scoring the basketball.”

Note: James Wood sponsored an Epilepsy Awareness Night at Friday night’s girls’ and boys’ basketball doubleheader, raising almost $600. The proceeds will go to the Virginia Epilepsy Foundation.

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