Woodson Ends Season With Dominant Victory

The Woodson boys’ basketball team finished its regular season on a high note Friday, cruising past visiting West Springfield, 62-34, at Jenkins Gymnasium.

The Cavaliers finished the regular season at 13-9 and 8-6 in AAA Patriot play, taking fourth place in the district. West Springfield fell to 3-17, 2-12 in district play.

Woodson opens the district playoffs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against fifth-place South County.

Senior guard John Schoof led the way for Woodson, scoring 17 points — he also buried two 3-pointers as the buzzers went off at the end of the first and third quarters, getting the home crowd all riled up.

Schoof said his first late-period heave, which gave Woodson an 18-3 edge, was a desperation try. The third-quarter buzzer-beater was by design, he said.

“It was a set play, and they got the ball to me in time,” he said. Senior swingman Tim Collins added 11 points for the Cavaliers.

Offense wasn’t Woodson coach Doug Craig’s main concern, however.

Craig was more concerned with the Cavaliers’ ability to make stops on the defensive end. Based on those guidelines, Woodson passed its final regular-season test.

“In playoff basketball, your offense is going to come and go, especially against good teams,” Craig said. “Your defense needs to be consistent and it needs to give you a chance to win.”

The defense definitely was solid early. In the first quarter alone, West Springfield had eight turnovers. The Spartans didn’t hit a field goal until Sean McMahon’s bucket with six seconds left in the quarter.

Holding a 29-11 lead at intermission, Woodson expanded its lead in the third quarter, scoring 17 of 25 points in the period.

After Schoof hit his 3-pointer at the end of the quarter, Woodson was ahead 46-17.

The teams for the most part exchanged baskets in the fourth quarter.
Woodson split its regular season games with South County, winning 66-53 at home on Jan.7 and losing 59-54 in Lorton on Feb. 1. The Stallions are led by senior forward Nik Biberaj and junior forward Marqueice Johnson, who each average about 15 points per game.

The fact that a team such as South County, which entered Friday’s game against winless Lee with a 12-9 record (7-6 in district play), finished in fifth place tells a lot about the strength of the district this season, Craig said.

“There’s a lot of depth, down to the [No.] 6 seed,” Craig said. “It says a lot about the quality and depth in our league.”