By David Miles, Sports Correspondent
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The Woodstock boys basketball team knew that Friday night’s game with Hartford was big, very big. With the regular season winding down and many teams jockeying for position in the Division II standings, every game becomes crucial.
“We knew we were ninth going in and Hartford was something like 12th,” said senior guard Curran MacDonald. “Every point counts now and we can jump back up if we keep winning.”
With the 62-55 win the Wasps vaulted back into the seventh position, which would mean opening the playoffs at home rather than on the road.
“This game was really important,” said Caleb Webb. “It’s about the seeding and it’s also about momentum. We want to be playing well and have momentum heading into the playoffs.”
Webb played a big role in the victory with a team-high 18 points. That total was a career high for the big sophomore, with more points than usual coming from outside his normal post position.
“Landon [forward Bryce] was really guarding me close inside,” said Webb. “But he didn’t come out on the perimeter so I looked for my shots out there.”
And he was successful from longer range. Two of his baskets came with one foot on the three-point line (the second of which must have been just the tip of his big toe). Ten of those points came in the third quarter alone. He also sank all six of his free throw attempts.
The game was tight all the way with seven lead changes and four ties through the first three quarters. Woodstock led by a scant point at both halftime and after three quarters.
The teams traded baskets to open the fourth quarter as well until Webb put them up by three a little more than mid-way through the stanza. And with 2:32 remaining MacDonald hit the biggest shot of the night. He swished a three-pointer from the top of the key establishing a 55-49 Woodstock lead.
After two Landon free throws cut the lead to four, the Hurricanes were forced to foul. However, only three team fouls had been called on them up to that time. So over 40 seconds went off the clock before finally they sent Woodstock to the line.
MacDonald missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Landon missed at the other end as well. With 1:05 left Hunter McDonough sank a pair of free throws to build the lead back to six.
And immediately thereafter came the play that clinched the victory. With Hartford desperate to score quickly, Hunter McDonough forced a steal outside the three-point line and passed ahead to his brother Dylan.
The twin drove into the basket, sank the lay-up and was fouled. After converting the three-point play, the game was all but over with Woodstock up nine points with just 52 ticks remaining on the clock.
The big steal also magnified that teams win big games like this by holding on to the ball. It was one of 5 second half turnovers by the Hurricanes. Conversely Woodstock did not turn the ball over once after intermission, a very impressive statistic.
The Wasps had to inbound the ball frequently down the stretch when Hartford was fouling repeatedly rather than let Woodstock run out the clock. It may seem like a little thing, but in a pressure-packed situation, it is anything but easy.
Alex Crompton was key to the Woodstock success in this regard. The senior handled the inbounds plays and got the ball in successfully every time. Twice he called time-out at just the right moment rather than force the ball in to a teammate who was not open or get a five-second call. After each timeout, he then found an open teammate to keep the clock running.
Free Throws: For the game Hartford had 16 turnovers to only 4 for the green-and-white…Hunter McDonough was second in scoring with 16 points while MacDonald was the third Wasp in double figures with 12…Ray Kurek played some big minutes in the first and second quarters and scored the final basket of the first quarter, giving the Wasps a four-point lead…At one point in the second quarter Hartford turned the ball over on five consecutive possessions…Gavin Farnsworth scored 11 points for the ‘Canes in the first half, but Woodstock shut him down after intermission, holding him to a single basket. Landon led the home team with 18 points on the game…Both McDonough twins had six assists apiece. Hunter also had a team-high eight rebounds, one more than Webb…The junior varsity team lost 55-31, but got a very nice spark from Bill Wood who returned to action after being hurt most of the season. He played in the first varsity contest but has had to sit out since then. His ten points led the junior varsity squad and his play in the middle quarters cut into the Hartford lead after a large 19-4 first quarter deficit.