Woodbridge’s pressure defense keyed an 18-2 first half run, and the Vikings got stops when it mattered most Tuesday night to earn a 56-52 district victory over Forest Park.
“Earlier in the year when we needed those defensive stops we weren’t getting them,” Woodbridge coach Courtney Coffer said after the game. “Now we’re finally in a groove where we know defense is our calling card and when the game is on the line we have to get stops.”
Down 12-6 in the first quarter Woodbridge was able to set up its full court press after a few baskets, leading to Forest Park turnovers and more Vikings baskets. The Vikings closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run and started the second quarter on a 10-2 run as the visiting Bruins struggled to control the basketball.
“We really challenged the kids early,” Coffer said. “They went on their run early–this is a game of runs, we all know that–let’s get on our run now. The kids really jump-started us going into halftime. We wanted to sustain that in the third quarter. I told the guys, hey, Coach Mak [Forest Park Coach Dogbatse] is going to have his guys come out swinging in the third.”
Forest Park did come out strong, forcing a Woodbridge time out not two minutes into the second half as senior guard Jackson Johnson drilled a three-pointer to cap a 7-0 Bruins run. The teams battled back and forth after that until Johnson drilled another three-pointer early in the fourth to give Forest Park its first lead since the first quarter, 45-44.
That’s when Woodbridge’s defense seemed to tighten, holding the Bruins to just seven points the rest of the way. The Vikings also seemed to crash the boards better at that stage, thanks in no small part to senior forward Derrick Hopkins. The Vikings gave up too many offensive rebounds until that point, but Hopkins and his team started to deny the Bruins second looks.
The vikings surged to a 55-50 lead with just a minute left, though things remained interesting when Bruins senior Kobi Johnson cut to the rim for a lay-up to make it a one possession game. Forest Park then got a steal but Jackson Johnson missed a three. Forest Park had yet another opportunity after Woodbridge guard John Muange missed a free throw, but Bruins junior guard Brandon Daniels missed a three. Hopkins got the rebound and was fouled, making a free throw to seal the win.
Daniels had a good game for Forest Park (3-7, 8-12), scoring 13 first half points on his way to 15 on the evening. Kobi Johnson had another typical good all-around game, contributing five points, eight rebounds and five assists in the loss. The Bruins, who played without sophomore guard Coretez Lewis, will resume play Friday against Freedom-Woodbridge.
The win gave Woodbridge (5-4, 8-11) sole possession of third place in the Eastern (Cardinal) District. Senior guard Shaheed Muhammad led the Vikings with 17 points while Hopkins had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Woodbridge got good contributions from its bench with Muange (12 points) and junior forward Timothy Cheppell (nine points). Coach Coffer continues to adjust lineups in an effort to find out what works best for his improving, but still inconsistent Vikings.
“We try to find different ways to give us a spark,” he told us. “One of the most important things for us is to have our bench out-score the other team’s bench. We’re getting there. We’re still not playing the way I would like us to but we’re a lot further along than where we were earlier in the year.”
–Chris Jollay
all stats are unofficial
| FOREST PARK | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| COBB | 4-10 | 0-1 | 8 | 8 | 0 | |
| Jackson JOHNSON | 2-10 | 0-0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | |
| Kobi JOHNSON | 2-5 | 1-2 | 5 | 8 | 5 | |
| DANIELS | 6-15 | 0-0 | 15 | 3 | 3 | |
| COLLINS | 1-3 | 3-4 | 5 | 9 | 0 | |
| Smith | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Crawley | 3-7 | 1-2 | 7 | 0 | 2 | |
| Kevin Johnson | 1-2 | 1-2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 20-55 | 6-11 | 52 | 32 | 12 | |
| Threes: Daniels 3-9, Jackson Johnson 2-10, Kevin Johnson 1-1, Crawley 0-2, Kobi Johnson 0-2 | ||||||
| WOODBRIDGE | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| HOPKINS | 3-8 | 6-8 | 12 | 12 | 2 | |
| MUHAMMAD | 6-15 | 4-4 | 17 | 3 | 1 | |
| COLEMAN | 3-9 | 0-0 | 6 | 6 | 2 | |
| HASLEM | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| FREEMAN | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Cheppell | 3-6 | 3-3 | 9 | 2 | 0 | |
| Muange | 5-7 | 0-1 | 12 | 1 | 1 | |
| Scruggs | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Thomas | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Adams | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 20-55 | 13-16 | 56 | 30 | 7 | |
| Threes: Muange 2-3, Muhammad 1-4, Hopkins 0-2, Freeman 0-2, Coleman 0-1, Haslem 0-1, Cheppell 0-1 | ||||||