Woodgrove gives Papastergiou first career win, 63-55

Opening night at Woodgrove, the Wolverines kicked off a new era in boys basketball, defeating Loudoun County 63-55 and giving coach Konstantine Papastergiou his first win as a varsity head coach.

“It feels surreal; I’m really happy,” Papastergiou told us. “Got down early like 21-9, and I was like ‘uh-oh’, but all offseason we preached belief. Just believe in what we do.”

Early it was easy to doubt what the Wolverines were doing. Loudoun County dissected Woodgrove with surgical backdoor cuts to the basket for easy lay-ups. It looked not only like Papastergiou might not get his first win, but his team might not come close.

The Wolverines adjusted on defense, however, and started to disrupt the Captains with some pressure. They used their size on offense to bully Loudoun County down low and get buckets inside. Woodgrove missed a fair amount of shots, but was able to give itself second chances with solid offensive rebounding in the paint.

C.J. Schaeffer was a big part of Woodgrove’s success. His physical strength was difficult for the Captains to match down low, and the senior finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds on the night.

“That’s my big bully right there,” Papastergiou said of Schaeffer. “He’s going to be a big piece for us going forward…he’s our senior leader.”

Despite the double-digit deficit early, Woodgrove rallied to tie the game late in the second quarter. In addition, Loudoun County star Nick Alexander, who had 15 points by halftime, was benched for most of the second half for receiving a technical just before halftime.

The Wolverines quickly grabbed the lead in the third quarter, and extended it to 49-39 early in the fourth. Alexander returned, and he and Jack West (19 points) led the Captains to within four points of Woodgrove. But Loudoun County, which only got two points from its bench on the evening, couldn’t overtake their hosts.

“To take the lead and then keep the lead is big for a young team,” said Papastergiou. “We play three sophomores.”

Those sophomores played well. Kenny Chicas added 13 points despite foul trouble, and Cory Shorts helped spark the second quarter rally with five points of the bench. Senior Alec Hughes, like Schaeffer, was tough inside, finishing with nine points and six rebounds.

It was a hard-fought game that saw an unfortunate incident toward the end, as Alexander went down with a knee injury. With or without the talented senior, Loudoun County will try to rebound versus Briar Woods Wednesday. Woodgrove, meanwhile, will go for Papastergiou win number two against Broad Run.

–Chris Jollay

all stats are unofficial