Woodson Looks Lethargic in Loss

With just two minutes to go in a key division game, the Woodson Cavaliers finally realized it was time to fight.

After thumping the West Potomac Wolverines (12-8, 6-7) by 20 points on their home court just weeks ago, the Cavs (12-9, 7-6) made the mistake of underestimating a feisty opponent, and they ultimately ran out of time as a late comeback effort failed, in a 55-50 heartbreaker at home on Tuesday night.

 “We thought we could have beaten them easily coming off a 20 -oint win off of them last time, but they proved us wrong,” said forward David Nosal. “We came back at the end, but it was too late, we should have started earlier.”

The Wolverines set the tone in the first quarter, reversing an early four-point deficit with an 11-0 run that staked the team to a 16-9 lead that they never relinquished. Despite Woodson’s significant size advantage, West Potomac out-rebounded the Cavaliers from the start and could have opened an even larger lead if it weren’t for poor first half free-throw shooting.

“We needed to play with more effort on the boards. They started four guys under six feet tall, everyone we started was 6-foot-3 or higher,” said Woodson coach Doug Craig after the game. “But they beat us to rebounds all night.”

Early in the third quarter, Woodson junior guard, Mark Noe, (10 points) made a sweet move to the hoop for an easy layup, then hit two free throws on the following possession to tie the score at 22. But Wolverines’ guard Bryant Fultz started to impose his will on the game, scoring seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter with several daring forays into the paint.

West Potomac’s lead bulged to nine with just two minutes left, as the Cavaliers were plagued by missed layups that were frequently too strong off the glass. But just as it seemed that the contest was over, Brandon Stepka, who averages just six points per game but led all scorers with 19 for the Cavaliers, almost singlehandedly took over the game.

First he hit two 3-pointers to cut the lead to four with 49 seconds to go in the game. He then stole an errant pass, hit the ensuing layup and got fouled in the process. Stepka completed the 3-point play to cut the lead to 51-50 with only 30 seconds to play.

“Stepka was really good early in the year, then he started to struggle and he’s been getting more aggressive in practice the last couple weeks,” Craig said. “He was about the only guy tonight that had a really strong game tonight. Hopefully he’ll use tonight’s game as a springboard.”

But Stepka’s heroics weren’t enough, as the Wolverines overcame their early free throw shooting woes to cinch the game at the line. Sophomore guard Brandon Pressley hit two free throws on the next possession in the face of a hostile crowd to extend the lead to three. Woodson freshman guard Daniel Noe missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game, then West Potomac senior point guard Daryl Copeland (12 points) hit two free throws to preserve the win.

“This has been our team all year long, we have good stretches and then we have stretches where we aren’t as focused as we need to be,” Craig said. “We’re home on Friday night against West Springfield. Hopefully we’ll play better and get some momentum going into the playoffs.”

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