Standing tall: Big men shine for Warriors

By Tommy Keeler Jr. - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

FRONT ROYAL -- George Asare was frustrated.

The Sherando senior wasn't happy with how he played in the first half. The 6-foot-6-inch forward made up for it in the second half. Asare helped rally the Warriors to a 67-51 victory over James Wood in the Northwestern District boys basketball tournament final on Friday night.

"In the first half I didn't feel like I helped my teammates," Asare said. "I just told myself not to worry about my mistakes and to do better in the second half."

The Warriors trailed 33-23 at the half and Chris Skinner's 3-pointer in the first minute of the third quarter helped James Wood to a 13-point lead.

Sherando cut the lead to 40-31 on back-to-back baskets inside by Asare and 6-foot-8-inch center Terry Wood. James Wood's Chad Potter hit a jumper with 3:10 left in the third quarter to extend the lead to 11. Brady Cook scored back-to-back baskets for the Warriors, but Skinner responded with a 3-pointer to push the lead to 45-37 with 52 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Asare and Tre Porter scored back-to-back baskets in the final seconds of the quarter to cut the lead to 45-41.

Several of Asare's baskets in the second half came off passes from Wood in the high post.

"We've worked on that. He just out-jumps everybody and puts it in," Wood said of his passes to Asare. "George played beyond expectations tonight."

The two big guys continued to dominate in the second half. Asare scored a conventional three-point play to start the fourth quarter and cut the lead to 45-44. Potter hit two free throws to give James Wood a 47-44 lead with 6:29 left, but the Colonels wouldn't score again for more than four minutes.

Sherando (12-11) scored 14 consecutive points to take control of the game. Asare and Wood combined for 11 of the points during the run.

"We knew we're a team that has to score most of our points in the paint," Wood said. "Our bigs have to score. In the first half our bigs, including me, didn't play well. In the second half we started to click and that's what got us the victory."

Potter cut the lead to 58-49 on a driving layup with 2:22 left, but the Warriors sealed the game at the free-throw line.

"We had that long, long stretch where we couldn't put the ball in the basket," James Wood coach Al Smith said. "That really hurt us."

James Wood (6-18) and Sherando will meet again on Tuesday night at Sherando in the Region II quarterfinals. It's the second straight year the two teams have met in the district tournament final and again in the regional quarterfinals.

Skinner led the Colonels with 17 points, while Potter added 14.

Tuesday's meeting between the Colonels and the Warriors will be their fourth this season. Sherando has won each meeting, but Smith said he's confident they can finally break through against the Warriors on Tuesday.

"We're looking forward to playing them for a fourth time," Smith said. "We know we can compete with them."

Wood and Asare had 19 points each to lead the way for the Warriors.

The win gave Sherando back-to-back district titles for the first time in school history. Asare said this one was even more special to him than last year's.

"It means a lot to me," Asare said. "This is the last year I will ever play organized basketball. To be able to win two district championships in a row is a good feeling."