Warrior boys win again

By Robert Stocks
The Winchester Star

STEPHENS CITY — The Sherando student section broke out with chants of — “Terry, Terry!” — on more than one occasion during Tuesday night’s Region II Division 4 quarterfinal game against James Wood.

The Warriors’ student section heaped praise on 6-foot-7 sophomore center Terry Wood at the end of both the first and second quarters, and it was a well-deserved gesture.

Wood made sure the Warriors wouldn’t have to overcome a 17-point deficit like they did in Saturday’s Northwestern District tournament final, carrying Sherando with a dominating performance in the paint.

Wood scored a game-high 27 points and had 19 rebounds as the Warriors won 66-57 in front of a near-capacity crowd at Sherando High School. The No. 3-seeded Warriors (12-10) now travel to face No. 2 Liberty (10-7) Thursday night at 7:45 in the regional semifinals.

“Terry did a good job rebounding the basketball, and we tried to get the ball inside to him when we thought he was open,” Sherando coach Garland Williams said. “The guards handling the basketball got the ball into him when he was open. All in all, we thought we played a much better game than we did Saturday.”

The Warriors pulled out a 64-61 win over the Colonels in the district final, needing a game-sealing three-point play by Phil Root in the final minute. But there was no need for late heroics in Tuesday’s elimination game.

Wood scored 10 of the Warriors’ 14 points in the opening quarter. He scored 12 consecutive points for Sherando to bridge the first and second quarters, capping it with a baby hook that left James Wood senior Brock Lockhart just shaking his head and Colonels coach Al Smith calling timeout with the Warriors ahead 18-11. At that point, Wood accounted for 14 of the Warriors’ 18 points.

Sherando led by as many as nine in the second quarter, but James Wood (10-14) used a 10-2 run to take the lead.

Chad Potter’s layup put the Colonels ahead 23-22, but a putback by Ian Williams and then a layup by Wood put Sherando back on top 26-22 at the half.

Wood said the team always looks to him inside, and that hurt the Colonels — and put big men Mason Smith and James Thorne in foul trouble — throughout Tuesday’s game.

“I’ve got a little more body than Mason, so I just tried to force my will on the inside and try to draw fouls on them,” said Wood, who also went 9 of 11 from the free-throw line.

Wood had only played four minutes and 16 second in the second half of Saturday’s game at James Wood because he was in foul trouble.

Midway through Tuesday’s third quarter, the Colonels cut the Warriors’ lead to one after a putback by Potter, but the Warriors answered with another run.

James Bowens and Darren Baker combined for four apiece in an 8-0 run to extend Sherando’s lead to 42-33.

The Warriors carried a nine-point lead (46-37) into the fourth quarter.

Sherando led by as many as 13 early in the fourth, and the Colonels never cut the deficit to less than eight the rest of the way.

“We didn’t seem to have that same energy level that we had at the end of last week,” Smith said. “We were short in the middle. Mason was in the hospital most of the day on Sunday with a stomach virus or something. He was very dehydrated and we didn’t get a whole lot of minutes out of him tonight. He just didn’t have anything really. We were shorthanded inside, and we didn’t shoot the ball that well.”

Potter and Skinner led the Colonels with 14 points apiece. Lockhart added 11 points, and senior and district player of the year Trae Tinsman went just 2 of 9 from the field and finished with six points for James Wood.

After playing three district tournament games last week, Skinner said the Colonels didn’t show the same type of energy like they did Saturday.

“Our defensive intensity wasn’t as tough as it was all last week,” Skinner said. “We had three big games so maybe that’s what killed us.”

Wood scored 10 and had 10 rebounds in the second half to help keep the Colonels at a distance.

“He’s a great player,” Skinner said. “He was definitely a big factor. We had to stop him some way somehow but we just couldn’t get there.”

Bowens joined Wood in double figures with 10, and Daniel Nichols scored six before fouling out with just under three minutes left.

Sherando now prepares for a rematch with Evergreen District tournament champion Liberty, whom the Warriors defeated 72-68 in Stephens City on Jan. 15.

“We were able to squeeze by them here, but we know they’re very strong,” Williams said. “I’ve seen them play a couple times, and they’re very good, so it’s going to be a tough game. I’m just glad to advance.”