Boys' Basketball: No. 5 W.T. Woodson 68, No. 6 South Lakes 62

By Angela Watts
DigitalSports.com

(Highlights from the game and post-game interviews are listed below the story.)

W.T. Woodson senior forward Greg Whitaker emerged from the Cavaliers' post-game locker room talk to find an array of reporters and college recruiters waiting to talk to him.

Whitaker walked up to each one individually and started, each time, to extend his right hand for a polite handshake. But each time he also thought better of it -- and pulled his hand away.

Whitaker has been sick for the past several days with a fever of more than a 100 degrees. To make matters worse, he was also bent over a trash can in the team locker room at half time losing his lunch.

"I was chucking it in the locker room at half time, but that's alright," Whitaker said. "I got past it. I can always get up for a game."

Apparently so.

Whitaker poured in a double-double despite the illness, leading No. 5 W.T. Woodson to a 68-62 victory over No. 6 South Lakes on the strength of a 25-point, 12-rebound performance.

"Greg is really sick, but of course he didn't want to come out," Cavaliers' coach Doug Craig said. "He's a very determined kid ... and, really, anchors us down in the post. He's a touch match-up for a lot of teams and he did a great job tonight battling through not feeling well. But that's what you expect from your senior captain."

Though it was a back-and-forth game for much of the opening quarter, three different W.T. Woodson players -- junior Dylan Robeson, senior Coleman Bacon and sophomore Steven Noe -- hit consecutive three-pointers in a span of just 74 seconds. The shots were part of an 11-0 run from the end of the first quarter into the second and broke open a 22-12 lead. The Cavaliers (14-5 overall, 10-1 Liberty District) extended that margin to as much as 40-29 with 4 minutes, 9 seconds remaining in the third quarter on their only other three-pointer of the game, this one by sophomore guard Max Lenox.

But Craig pulled Whitaker to rest soon after, and the Seahawks took full advantage. South Lakes, led by seniors Thomas Mayo (16 points), Curtis Keys (13) and Jay Bowman (12), outscored the Cavaliers 16-3 in the final four minutes of the third quarter to take a 45-43 lead into the final period.

The Seahawks (14-5, 7-4) extended that margin to 54-50 with 5:01 to play on a short jumper by junior guard Travis Williams off a steal by senior swingman A.J. Price, but that's when Whitaker and Lenox went back to work. The duo combined for the Cavaliers' next 10 points, turning a four-point deficit into a 60-56 lead with 1:32 remaining.

"Greg holds it down inside, but our guards are real strong too," said Lenox, who finished with 17 points. "So we have a good inside-outside game on offense."

Whitaker, who re-entered with 1:53 left in the third quarter after a short rest, was remarkably steady throughout the game, totaling seven points in the first quarter and six in each of the final three periods.

"He's strong and he's physical," said South Lakes coach Darryl Branch, whose team defeated W.T. Woodson by five points in their earlier-season meeting. "The first time we played them he wasn't that much of a factor. But tonight he made his presence known. They were able to get the ball to him right under the basket, and that's a high-percentage shot."

Added Craig: "I think it was very similar to the game we played them up at their place earlier this year. We had the lead the whole first half and most of the game, and then they kind of made a run and took it from us. So I was kind of interested to see how we would react [tonight].

"I think we've played a very difficult schedule and we've had a lot of games like this where we've had leads and teams have been able to come back and take it from us. But the last couple of weeks we've started fighting back when we get behind ... and we've been able to finish games."

Email: awatts@digitalsports.com

South Lakes     12   7 26 17 -- 62
W.T. Woodson 17 12 14 25 -- 68

South Lakes -- Williams 2 0-0 4; Mayo 7 1-1 16; Keys 5 2-2 13; Clark 2 3-3 7; Bowman 5 2-7 12; Price 3 1-2 7; Fortes 1 1-2 3. Team totals: 25 10-17 62. W.T. Woodson -- Robeson 1 4-4 7; Noe 1 0-0 3; Stepka 4 0-0 8; Lenox 6 4-10 17; Bacon 1 2-2 5; Huling 1 1-2 3; Whitaker 10 5-6 25. Team totals: 24 16-24 68. Three pointers -- South Lakes 2 (Mayo, Keys); W.T. Woodson 4 (Bacon, Lenox, Noe, Robeson).