On January 5th the Woodson Cavaliers lost to West Springfield on the road, 45-40. That was the Cavaliers’ eighth loss in their previous nine games, and it appeared like they were not destined to be a factor in the demanding Patriot District in 2022-2023.
Fast forward 26 days and the Cavs’ prognosis is much improved, as demonstrated by their 51-43 victory over the Spartans.
“We’re still a young group that makes some mistakes down the stretch of games,” said Woodson Coach Doug Craig. “But yeah, we are playing a little better now.”
That they are, having now won three straight and five out of their last seven. Tuesday night the Cavs started slow, trailing 7-3 midway through the first quarter. Their zone defense was passive, allowing the Spartans to penetrate and grab offensive rebounds off their misses.
The Cavaliers soon picked up their intensity, however, pressuring the Spartans’ ball-handlers and using their height advantage to alter the visitors’ shots. Craig’s team held West Springfield scoreless for a four-to-five-minute stretch in the first half, also using the steals and blocks they produced to generate transition offense. At halftime, it was 27-16 Cavaliers.
“Energy was a little low to start,” said Craig. “Then I thought our bench came in and gave us some life…I feel like we kind of leave a lot of points on the floor. Just kind of gotta work your way through that and sometimes you just have to grind it out on that [the defensive] end of the floor.”
The Spartans adjusted in the second half, though. Their backcourt of Jaylon Surell (15 points) and Robin Casapao (11 points) became more effective at penetrating the zone and hitting three-pointers. West Springfield slowly crept back into the game, closing it to 46-43 with just under a minute left.
The Cavaliers did not panic, however. Even when Cavs sophomore Theo Burke missed a free throw, senior Charlie Schmidt swooped in an got a key offensive rebound. He was fouled and calmly sank two free throws. Then, the defensive-minded Cavaliers shut down West Springfield’s offense, holding them scoreless the rest of the way.
“Our composure has been a little bit better,” said Craig, when asked about what has changed for his team since losing eight of nine. “Even tonight when we took some bad shots, they made a run, I never felt like we panicked. Early in the season when teams would make a run we’d panic a little bit.”
While the game wasn’t four quarters of excellence by the Cavaliers, it certainly highlighted the progress they have made in the last month. They were led by forward Sean Donovan and fellow junior Ethan Conklin, who each finished with 12 points. Conklin’s three treys were a needed source of offense in the first half. Schmidt added 10 points, and Burke had a nice all-around game rebounding and passing the basketball.
Woodson has wins against two of the four top teams in their district, plus a one-point loss to another one. Their trajectory is definitely headed upwards. The question is, can the Cavs become consistent enough to make a run at either the district tournament, or regionals?
If they improve in February like they did in January, very possibly.
–Chris Jollay
all stats are unofficial
| WEST SPRINGFIELD | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| SURELL | 6-12 | 0-2 | 15 | 2 | 2 | |
| CASAPAO | 4-7 | 2-3 | 11 | 6 | 3 | |
| SHARIF | 2-8 | 3-5 | 7 | 4 | 1 | |
| HIGHTOWER | 4-6 | 0-0 | 8 | 7 | 0 | |
| HOLMES | 1-4 | 0-0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | |
| Pearson | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Baird | 0-7 | 0-1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
| Bat-erdene | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Benyam | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 17-43 | 5-11 | 43 | 35 | 7 | |
| Threes: Surell 3-6, Casapao 1-3, Benyam 0-1, Pearson 0-1, Baird 0-3, Sharif 0-5 | ||||||
| W.T. WOODSON | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| BURKE | 2-7 | 0-1 | 4 | 6 | 4 | |
| CONKLIN | 3-7 | 3-4 | 12 | 1 | 0 | |
| DONOVAN | 4-9 | 3-9 | 12 | 6 | 1 | |
| LATHROP | 1-9 | 2-2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |
| SCHMIDT | 3-5 | 3-4 | 10 | 5 | 3 | |
| Taylor | 2-2 | 0-0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | |
| Limbago | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Gantumur | 1-3 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 17-44 | 11-20 | 51 | 23 | 9 | |
| Threes: Conklin 3-6, Donovan 1-2, Gantumur 1-2, Schmidt 1-3, Burke 0-1, Lathrop 0-5 | ||||||