#11 Battlefield 82, #17 Woodbridge 57

The key stat in Battlefield’s season-opening 25-point win over Woodbridge? Bench scoring.

The talented Vikings are not at full strength as a few members of their squad are still competing for Woodbridge’s football team in the playoffs. The Vikings only went eight deep in their rotation Monday night while the Bobcats played 11 players in the first half alone. Woodbridge’s reserves managed zero points while Battlefield’s poured in 26, essentially the margin of victory.

Of course it’s not like Battlefield’s starters didn’t contribute. Forward Will Bounds scored 25 points off five three-pointers and had 10 rebounds. Guard Julian Washington had 18 points and sparked a 22-5 second quarter Battlefield (1-0) run with steal after steal.

“Our guys, any one of them can go off on any given night and they enjoy playing basketball together,” coach Randy Bills said after the game. “We’re going to use our depth to hopefully wear down teams so that in the third and fourth quarter our conditioning and depth pays off for us.”

It certainly did on this night. Woodbridge guard John Muange had three assists early as the Vikings forged to an early 8-2 lead. Bills went to his bench and soon found success with junior guards Stacey Terry and Chase Pagon. Terry dished out three assists of his own in the first quarter to help get the offense started and Pagon added four points quickly. The Bobcats nevertheless trailed at the end of one by three points, 21-18.

Then Bounds and Washington caught fire to spark the offense, while the Woodbridge starters wore down a bit. Washington sparked the offense by playing good defense, forcing a number of turnovers and coming up with steals to send the Bobcats into transition. All the Bobcats seemed to pick up their defensive intensity in fact, holding the Vikings to just five second quarter points en route to a 40-26 lead at intermission.

After Bounds opened the second half with two threes the game was essentially decided. To their credit the Vikings never quit, though. Forward Derrick Hopkins (25 points, 13 rebounds) showed why he’s one of the region’s most exciting players with relentless work on the boards and athletic drives to the hoop. Behind Hopkins the Vikings were able to claw to 46-33 midway through the third. But Battlefield continued to come at the visitors in waves and Woodbridge simply didn’t have the depth to use its trademark press that effectively.

Don’t cry for Woodbridge (0-1), though. They’ll likely rebound to eventually become one of the better teams in the area when all is said and done.

But even the best teams in the area might have trouble against this Battlefield squad.

–Chris Jollay

–all stats are unofficial