Foul shooting costs James Wood boys in playoff loss

WINCHESTER — There were a lot of fouls called and plenty of free throws shot in Friday’s Class 4 Northwestern District boys’ playoff clash between James Wood and Kettle Run.

The difference was that the Cougars made nearly every trip to the foul line count, while the Colonels couldn’t take advantage of many of their opportunities.

Kettle Run, in big foul trouble all evening, survived with a 67-60 victory at Admiral Byrd Middle School that ended James Wood’s season.

In each half on Friday, James Wood was able to get Kettle Run in foul trouble early. The Colonels were in the double bonus midway through the second quarter and early in the fourth quarter, but could not take advantage of the situation partly because of their missed opportunities and partly because the Cougars were so good from the line.

For the game, James Wood finished 22 of 35 (63 percent) on free throws, while the Cougars were 23 of 27 (85 percent). Kettle Run did not miss an attempt through the first three quarters.

“We really didn’t execute at the free throw line tonight,” James Wood coach Tim Wygant said. “We left a lot of points out there. We just didn’t make them.”

The Colonels trailed by as many as eight points (19-11) in the first half before closing with a rush. Kemper Omps' back-to-back 3-pointers to close the half ended a 14-4 run that gave James Wood a 25-23 lead at the break.

“We did a good job finding the hot hand in the first half,” Wygant said. “It helps when we get kick-out threes and they were doubling a lot in the post.”

The contest turned in the third period. James Wood still led 33-31 after Kees' 3-point play, but Connor Dean scored six points in a 10-2 outburst that gave Kettle Run the lead for good. Dean, who spent most of the first half on the bench with three fouls, had all 10 of his points in the period as the Cougars took a 47-39 lead into the final quarter.

“We had some untimely turnovers at the beginning and middle of the third quarter,” Wygant said. “… We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds in the third quarter and then we buckled down in the fourth quarter. That’s where they got their big run.”

The Colonels nearly got even in the final period. With Kettle Run leading 53-46, Ben Tollok converted a three-point play and Chris Morrison’s steal and layup cut the deficit to 53-51 with 3:33 remaining.

JJ Mulhern's jumper pushed the Kettle Run lead back to four points and from there the Cougars were deadly at the line. They made 10 straight before missing a pair while leading 65-60 with nine seconds left. They would end the scoring with two foul shots with 3.3 seconds remaining.

Kees, who was in foul trouble in the first half, scored 17 points in the second half.

“Ashton was great,” Wygant said. “Ashton did an outstanding job of letting the game come to him. He didn’t press too hard.”

Omps added 15 points and Morrison netted nine for the Colonels.

Jordan Tapscott’s 15 points led four Cougars in double figures. Craig Riddle netted 11 and Mulhern joined Dean with 10.

The Colonels, who will graduate six seniors (Jared Neal, Eli Miller, Clayton Braithwaite, Andrew Link, Tollok, Morrison), improved upon a 2-16 mark in 2022.

“I think it was a lot of growth from last season,” Wygant said of the campaign. “We had a lot of contributors helping out. It’s tough to see those seniors go. They fought like crazy. With a tumultuous last three or four years, we continued to be resilient and win 10 games this year.

"I don’t think the expectations from the community were too high, but expectations were high in the locker room. I think they showed they can play some basketball. There’s a lot of potential still there.”

— Contact Walt Moody at

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