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1 Woodside Sweeps 7 Kecoughtan

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style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>Final - - #1 Woodside 66, #7
class=SpellE>Kecoughtan 57:
normal'>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>For much of the 2013-14 High School Basketball season,
the #1 spot in Group 6A was a revolving door.
The #1 ranked team changed five straight weeks
to open the campaign. Herndon then took
the spot and stayed there for five consecutive weeks until losing, which moved
the Woodside Wolverines out of Newport News to the dreaded #1 slot last week.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>It didn't look to be playing in Woodside's favor on
Saturday night as they fell behind by 12 in the first quarter against the
visiting Kecoughtan Warriors.
style=> But the Wolverines battled back, pulling
within two at half-time and outlasted Kecoughtan in a
run-and-gun style game, 66-57 to capture the regular season crown in 6A-South
Conference 2, recently labeled the Monitor Merrimac Conference.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>With the win, Woodside is now 19-3 overall, and perhaps
most impressively, 18-1 over the final 19 regular season contests.
style=> Their last loss came at Nansemond River back
on January 4th. Best of all, the
Wolverines have locked up a berth for the 6A-South Regional playoffs, meaning
they need to win only two games to punch their ticket to the State Final Four.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"These opportunities are rare and we tried to address
it with our guys. We're
class=GramE>so young as a team that we're trying to help our guys
understand where we are, the setting, the opportunity.
style=> They're intelligent kids and they understood
what was at stake tonight. I've been around
long enough to know that automatic bid is a very precious thing," remarked
Woodside Head Basketball Coach Erick
Mays.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I'm super proud of the guys' effort.
style=> We did get off to a rough start and it was
Senior Night. We have five seniors and
wanted to honor them by starting, and that just makes for a little unusual way.
style=> I was very proud of the way we responded, thought
we started to buckle down defensively and playing fast like we want to."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>At the forefront of their attack was 6-foot-5 sophomore
forward Chris Orlina,
a strong candidate for Player of the Year honors.
style=> Orlina scored a
game-high 29 points to offset the 26 points poured in by Kecoughtan
star junior point guard Marcell
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Haskett.
style=>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Without Orlina getting in a
groove, the Wolverines might've been playing a tie-breaker game for the
automatic #1 seed for regionals against the Warriors on Wednesday night.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Coach puts us in the situations a lot in practice of
going through adversity, switching the teams up and having us stay composed,"
class=SpellE>Orlina said. "That
helped us out tonight."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Woodside will be in action again on February 15th in
the semifinals of the conference tourney.
They get a bye for the opening round and so will Kecoughtan,
the #2 seed at 16-6 overall and 8-2 in the conference.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We've got a lot more goals ahead of us.
style=> I'm just trying to push my guys in practice,
let them know what our big goal is, which is a State Championship.
style=> It was a goal last year, but it's changed now
and seems more real."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'> 
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>Player of the Game:
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Woodside F Chris Orlina - -
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>How
Orlina got his 29 points is what separates him from
most prospects around the State in the Class of 2016.
style=> Showing off his skillset and versatility as
an inside-outside threat, he shot 10-of-16 from the floor, hit a three-pointer
to go with a couple of dunks, made 8-for-11 from the foul line and grabbed 11
rebounds while recording four blocks and three steals.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Chris started fast and played great the whole
night. He was unbelievably consistent
and is just an absolute great kid to coach," commented Mays.
style=> "That's a heck of a line in a game like this.
style=> Our team needs him to be like that, and when
he is, we're special."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>There was nothing selfish about Orlina's
game either. When the game was on the
line in the fourth quarter, he scored eight points and only missed one shot
while converting all four of his free-throws.
Defensively, his presence around the hoop was felt with
class=SpellE>Kecoughtan only scoring two baskets inside the arc in the
final quarter, each of which came in transition.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>It was Orlina's energy plays,
such as rejecting a shot, pulling in a tough rebound or throwing down a dunk
like he did off a miss to put the icing on the cake that hyped the rest of his
team.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Coach always stresses to me that it's a blessing the
talents I have, and that I'm a leader.
My teammates feed off of me," added Orlina,
who sees improvement in his game this season.
"I think it's been growing up, getting more mature and taking adversity
a little bit better from last year. I'm
also looking to get my teammates involved and just play hard every night."
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> 
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>Keys to Victory:
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#1
- - Ride Orlina:
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Last year when these two squads met,
class=SpellE>Kecoughtan had the best player on the floor in one
class=SpellE>Rajay Bullock, who's now playing his College Basketball at
Providence. Playing essentially the same
position in the front-court that Orlina does, Bullock
was a matchup nightmare for opposing teams.
That is what Orlina is becoming, and it was
evident that Woodside's offense would go through him in tense moments.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Now, the Wolverines are much more comfortable with that
being the case, and Orlina's
performance generally is a great barometer for how they will fare.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Playing at this level, around this area in the 757 as
a freshman, I don't care how talented you are, it's not an
easy concept," Mays pointed out. "It's
not easy to do and just when you start getting comfortable, a couple of rough
spots hit and you don't know where to turn.
Chris has a much better point of reference, which I think is allowing
him to be a little more consistent, his attitude is greater and when he's
playing great, we're usually playing great."
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
#2 - - Apply Pressure with Pace:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In
the early going, Kecoughtan's transition game was
lethal. Haskett
got to the basket (hey, that rhymes!)
virtually at will with incredible speed in the open floor, and his sidekick
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Brandon Tabb, a much improved senior
wing, glided to the rim on his way to scoring seven points through one quarter
of play.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Late in the first half and during much of the third
quarter when the pace got frenetic, Woodside applied pressure by pushing the
ball and going to the hoop. Often it
came off a miss and their defense started to crowd Tabb's space better, plus
didn't let Kecoughtan settle into their 2-3 matchup
zone that they turned to early in the third quarter.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We might be a little inconsistent offensively, but we
have some definite plans and philosophies of the things we want to do at the
defensive end," Mays said. "I really
think that was the difference tonight."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>By holding Kecoughtan to
3-of-23 shooting from downtown, Woodside had numerous run-outs off long misses.
style=> And by playing an up-tempo game, Woodside wore
down a Warriors team that relies heavily on its starting five to score, as
evidenced by the Wolverines' whopping (and
somewhat misleading given that Woodside's reserves in this game are normally
starters) 60-0 advantage in bench points.
normal'>
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
#3 - - Maximize Scoring Opportunities:
line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style=> One stat speaks loudest about how Woodside
did this down the stretch much better than Kecoughtan
and that's offensive rebounding. The
Wolverines came up with six offensive boards compared to none for
class=SpellE>Kecoughtan in the game's final period.
style=> But it goes deeper than just that stat on how
they maximized their scoring chances.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>For example, take the critical steal and basket by
Woodside 6-foot-1 junior guard Ray
Jackson that pushed the lead to four with 1:30 to play.
style=> Another crucial field goal came at the 1:02
mark when Rashaan
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Johnson's deuce, his only one of the
entire second half, stretched the advantage to five, making it a two possession
game.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In addition to the superb output of Orlina,
Woodside's cast around him with Jackson, Johnson, sophomore point guard and D-1
prospect Devante
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Carter, junior guard
class=SpellE>Jalen
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Cross and freshman small forward
class=SpellE>Taqwain
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Drummond all made things happen at
different points in the ballgame.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Cross and Jackson, those guys have been playing since
they were freshmen. They have a lot of
experience at that varsity level to be juniors," Mays noted.
style=>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We're really counting on Devante
and he runs our team in terms of getting up the floor, handling all that
pressure and exerting pressure. We've
got another freshman out there, Taqwain Drummond, who
for some reason is really flying under the radar and I'm not quite sure why."
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
href="https://www.facebook.com/virginiapreps.rodjohnson/media_set?set=a.663252123711019.1073741885.100000787114156&type=1">
style='text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Rod Johnson's Facebook Photo
Feature
style='text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Postgame Audio with Woodside
Coach Erick Mays
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Final Stats:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Woodside
Wolverines 66:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style=> (19-3; 10-0)
Chris Orlina - - 29Pts. 10-16FG, 8-11FT, 11Reb. 2Ast.
4Blk. 3Stl.
Devante Carter - - 9Pts. 4-12FG, 7Reb. 6Ast
class=GramE>.
Jalen Cross - - 8Pts. 3-12FG, 6Reb. 3Ast
class=GramE>.
Ray Jackson - - 7Pts. 3-7FG, 3Reb.
Rashaan Johnson - - 6Pts. 3-8FG, 7Reb.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Kecoughtan
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> Warriors 57:
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
(16-6; 8-2)
Marcell Haskett - - 26Pts.
11-24FG, 1-7 3's, 3-5FT, 4Reb. 2Ast. 3Stl.
Brandon Tabb - - 14Pts. 6-13FG, 1-7 3's, 5Reb. 2Ast. 2Blk.
Nick Carrera - - 7Pts. 3-9FG, 10Reb.
Will Askew - - 5Pts. 1-10FG, 3-4FT, 5Reb. 3Ast. 4Stl.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> 
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
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style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>
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