Sluggish Second Half Costs Woodson

Woodson coach Doug Craig believed that his Cavaliers could reach the championship game of the Patriot District for the second straight season. The blank bracket to get to the finals was still to be determined after the Cavaliers were holding serve with top seed T.C. Williams, trailing 24-22 at halftime.

The second half was a different story for the Cavaliers.

T.C. Williams only allowed Woodson to score four points in the third quarter and 13 in the entire second half to win 58-35.

“They scrambled the game up and started to trap in the half court,” Craig said. “We missed four point-blank layups. That kind of pressure you’ve got to make those shots because the only way to get out of it is to make them pay, and we had four layups and missed them. The game went from four to five points and then up to 13.”

The Titans sought momentum after halftime and took it with an opportunistic defense sparked by an offense that played with composure and energy around the basket. T.C. Williams’ stern defense didn’t allow any Cavaliers player to score in double-digits.

“We just picked up our intensity and started to remember our assignments and stuck to our assignments,” T.C. Williams coach Julian King said.

Daquan Kerman’s assist to Jamal Pullen for a layup lifted the Titans to take a 33-24 point lead more than two minutes in the second half. Landon Moss would later score on an offensive rebound and put-back for a 3-point play to give the Titans a 38-24 lead with 1:49 left in the third quarter. T.C. Williams outscored the Cavaliers 14-4 in the third quarter and left Woodson without many answers offensively.

The top play by the Cavaliers was in the final stages of the third quarter when Tim Collins stole a pass and dribbled all the way down the court for a last second layup. Aside from Collins’ hustle play, when the Cavaliers had opportunities, they faltered.

The Titans continued their high pressure level of play in the final quarter with a focused pass from T.J. Huggins to an open Pullen. Pullen scored 13 points in the game, all in the second half, and had two 3-point plays in the fourth quarter to help the Titans pull free of any chance that the Cavaliers had to come back. Forward Rick Mathews also performed well with 11 points for the Titans.

Toward the later stages of the game, the Cavaliers appeared to get caught in tough matchup situations.

“We were out of position to box out, out of position to get on the glass, and they’re getting a lot of tip-ins,” Craig said. ”That’s their game. You got to keep them off the glass. You have to do everything right. We played at a C- game tonight. We needed to play a B+ or A game tonight.”

Woodson was led by First Team All-District performer John Schoof, who scored a team-high nine points.

Although winning the Patriot District is out of the door, the season is not over.  By virtue of advancing to the district semifinals, Woodson will be looking forward to regional competition on Monday, when the Cavaliers will play the Concorde District tournament champion, either Herndon or Chantilly.

“We have a good team and we have a great program” Craig said. “Nineteen of 24 teams we have played had a winning record. We’re capable of winning a road game.”

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