ZACH PRICE, a senior forward (#24), goes up for a lay-up. Price tallied 14 points, including a pair of three-pointers, in Wakefield’s 68-51 triumph over Woburn last night at the Charbonneau Field House. (Donna Larsson Photo)
Warriors’ second half defensive effort results in 68-51 triumph
Published in the February 1, 2017 edition
By DAN BRYNE
WAKEFIELD— On Tuesday night the varsity boys’ basketball team at Wakefield Memorial High School hosted Woburn at the Charbonneau Field House, looking to pick up where it left off last week in Middlesex League play after it defeated Belmont.
For three quarters of the game on Tuesday, the Warriors found themselves in a tight contest, but they used a huge fourth quarter to pull away and take home the win, 68-51.
Some hot shooting in the first gave Woburn the lead, 18-13, as the Tanners knocked down four three-pointers.
“We just couldn’t stay with them, they made eight three’s in the first half,” Head Coach Brad Simpson said after the game.
Zach Price kept his team in the game, as the Warrior senior had six of his 14 points in the first quarter.
“Zach Price was very solid from the beginning to the end,” said the coach.
It was Wakefield’s turn to get hot from deep in the second quarter as the Warriors hit five three-pointers of their own. Andrew Miller had 11 of his game high 20 points in the second, including three treys.
Woburn stayed hot from behind the arc in the second and hit four more three-pointers of its own. It was a high scoring second quarter, with the Tanners just edging the Warriors, 22-21. At halftime, Wakefield found itself trailing 40-34.
Things turned around for Wakefield in the second half, as the Warriors changed up the defensive match-ups in the locker room.
Senior captain Alex McKenna pointed out that Woburn ball-handler Ryan Ludwig was getting to the basket easily, so he suggested a switch to Coach Simpson.
According to Simpson, McKenna said Ludwig was just getting it off the bounce and going to the basket. He had nine points just going to the basket.
“Alex McKenna had a very good suggestion at halftime, He’s our best defender. He felt he could guard Ludwig and be more physical and Kobey (Nadeau) could switch to (Matt) Juko, and it worked out perfectly.”
That change worked beautifully, as the Warriors were able to put a stop to Ludwig’s penetrating drives and kick-outs to open shooters at the three-point arc.
“The suggestion Alex made, made all the difference,” said Simpson. “It was a huge change in our strategy and it really worked well.
Woburn only managed to score eight points in the third quarter, while Wakefield stayed hot shooting the ball and netted 17 for the home team.
Woburn had played well through three quarters, but Wakefield used its strong third quarter to take a three-point lead at 51-48.
As well as Woburn played through three quarters, the Tanners completely lost their shooting touch in the fourth quarter. The Tanners failed to score for the first seven minutes of the quarter, missing eight straight free throws, and allowing Wakefield to score 17 points to seal a big win for the Warriors.
“It was a solid team effort,” Simpson said. “It’s nice to know I have Max (Hinchey) and Joe (Carmilla-Smith) to come in off the bench. They play good defense, they rarely make mistakes, and we got some good contribution out of them tonight in the second half.”
The Warriors claimed their fifth league victory of the season and they’ll look for some revenge against Stoneham on Friday, as they head on the road. The Spartans beat the Warriors at home in December, so they’ll be looking for some payback.
“We need to get to nine so if we win we’ll be more than halfway there,” said Simpson.
—–
WAKEFIELD 68, Woburn 51
At Charbonneau Field House
—–
Woburn (51) — Graal 3 0 8; Walusimbi 1 0 3; McDonald 2 0 5; Juko 1 1 4; Stachowski 4 2 14; Lalai 0 0 0; Berrios 1 0 2; Ludwig 5 2 12; Bennett 1 0 3; Morales 0 0 0; Dimauro 0 0 0; Parish 0 0 0. Totals 18 5 51.
WAKEFIELD (68) — Evangelista 2 1 7; Miller 6 5 20; Cusack 0 0 0; Carmilla-Smith 1 1 4; Hinchey 1 0 2; McKenna 4 1 9; Nadeau 4 0 10; Price 6 0 14; Shannon 0 0 0; DeLeire 0 2 2. Totals 24 10 68.
Score by Quarters — Woburn 18-22-8-3 — 51. WAKEFIELD 13-21-17-17 — 68.
Three-point FGs — Wob, Stachowski 4, Graal 2, Walusimbi 1, McDonald 1, Juko 1, Bennett 1. Wak, Miller 3, Evangelista 2, Nadeau 2, Price 2, Carmilla-Smith 1.
