Colonel boys turn back Warriors

WINCHESTER — Sherando’s boys’ basketball team played nearly every phase of the game well Tuesday in its matchup with James Wood — except one.

The Warriors went a dismal 10 for 37 from the field through three quarters and even a 20-point fourth quarter couldn’t save them from a 47-43 loss to the Colonels at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium.

Wood’s play was just as strong and the Colonels patiently waited for good shots against a stiff Warrior defense. Wood also overcame the loss of four players, including starter Cameron Firebaugh, who were either sick or injured for the game.

“James Wood did a nice job of controlling the pace of the game,” Sherando coach Garland Williams said. “We came out a little sluggish. They hit their shots, and once they got ahead they did a good job of controlling the ball.”

Taking advantage of a slow start by Sherando, the Colonels slowed the tempo, while steadily building their lead throughout the opening half.

“Going into the game, we knew that we had to control the tempo and for 31/2 quarters I thought we did a good job of that,” Colonel coach Tim Wygant said. “Sherando is a very good pressing team and that affected us in the last quarter.”

Noah Sullivan was the key to Wood’s offense in the first period, finding openings in the Warrior defense close to the basket. The Colonel senior scored five of Wood’s 11 first-quarter points.

The Warriors were able to get within 11-10 on a jumper by Melvin Irby with 30 seconds left in the period.

Sherando went ice cold in the second period going 3-of-15 from the field. They connected on just one of their first six shots through five minutes of play.

“We’ve watched film of them and that really helped a lot,” Sullivan said. ‘We worked on forcing them to make a bad shot with our hand in their face, and even if we got beat, we relied on our teammates to guard the basket and draw fouls.”

“This was a team effort on defense, and that’s the way this team had to play to be successful,” Wygant said. “It was a really gutty effort and we need to win like that. It shows that with discipline and we play the right way we can be successful.”

A 3-pointer by Trenton Campbell, his second the game, highlighted Wood’s second quarter, but consistently finding the open player for shots was the key to their success. The Colonels got points from four different players during the period and pulled to a 24-18 lead by halftime.

“James Wood has played everyone tough this year,” Williams said. “We had some breakdowns on defense, and they took advantage of them. They’re a good team.”

The Warriors’ Matthew McKay made the opening shot of the third period, but they only connected on one more field goal through the next 71/2 minutes. Wood attempted only eight shots in the quarter but made four of them to extend their lead to 34-23 heading into the final period of play.

Then suddenly everything changed in the fourth period and the Warriors began to score in bunches. Forward Michael Perry got hot midway through the period and scored all 10 of his points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

“A great team like Sherando is only going to shoot poorly for so long,” Sullivan said. “They started hitting the shots they needed to but in the end, we were able to hit our shot when we needed to.”

The Colonels (6-9, 2-2 Conference 21 West, 2-3 Northwestern District) did commit seven turnovers during the period. With 2:34 left in the game, Perry and Sherando’s ball-hawking defense had narrowed Wood’s lead to 44-41.

“We knew that we weren’t going to get out of this game without them taking a couple of swings at us,” Wygant said. “We were right there with a chance to put the game away and just missed our opportunity. But we finished the game well, and doing that is how we get better.”

What saved the Colonels was the free throw shooting of Sullivan and Aidan Houser. The pair connected on 5-of-6 of their foul shots over the last two minutes of play.

Campbell led Wood with 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Sullivan contributed 12 points. Houser and Sam Costin both had seven points.

Perry’s 10 points led Sherando (10-8, 3-2 conference, 1-3 district). Alex Morefield added eight and Aaron Banks netted seven, including a 4-for-4 performance at the line in the final period.

“It was a thrilling game,” Sullivan said. “Cross-county rivalries like this one are always a tight game. Sherando’s players are fierce competitors and it was tense throughout the game.”