Monday, December 21, 2009

Merry Christmas


FRIDAY NIGHT PREP HOOPS ROUNDUP: Sherwood boys crush Crisp Academy, win third game in a row

ALBANY — Sherwood Christian went from being off the tracks to on the right one.After starting the season 1-2, SCA has now won three games in a row, including Friday’s rout of Crisp Academy, 70-40, despite only leading by five points at halftime, 23-18.“It was a pretty poor first half,” SCA coach Matt Ruta said. “About as bad as a half as we’ve played, to be honest. But we came out in the third quarter, picked things up and I was very pleased with (how we closed).”Led by Gary Holloway’s 16 points, 11 from Brannan Anthony and 10 from Jay Cunningham, Sherwood is now 4-2, but won’t play again for more than a week when they travel to Orlando, Fla., for the First Academy Christmas Tournament. First Academy is the school Ruta coached at before being hired by Sherwood two years ago.

Monday, December 14, 2009

FRIDAY NIGHT....

SHERWOOD BOYS 61, SOUTHLAND 44:
The Eagles seemed to be hitting their stride — and doing so without former leading scorer Dequan Green.Green left the program earlier this week in hopes of transferring to Westover, though it didn’t seem to matter as coach Matt Ruta’s eagles had four scorers in double figures for the first time all season to make up for it.Wesley Pittman finished with a team-high 18 points — all on 3-pointers — while the Eagles also got big games from Gary Holloway (15), while both John Schramm and Brannan Anthony, who each added 13 apiece.“There’s not doubt we played really well together (Friday night),” said Ruta, whose team improved to 3-2 after starting 1-2 and coming off a 20-6 season in 2008. “We played selfless basketball and it’s the most consistent on defense we’ve been all year. We stopped dribble penetration, went up and got rebounds and really shared the basketball on the offensive end. I felt very proud after this win — and the effort.”Southland, meanwhile, was led by Andres Chaparro with 11, followed by Jose Hernandez with 9.Sherwood now gets set for a trip to Crisp Academy next Friday, then will hit the road and head South to Orlando, Fla., to face Ruta’s old school, First Academy, as part of an eight-team Christmas tournament.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Sherwood boys win battle of the ‘Woods’

SHERWOOD BOYS 73, WESTWOOD 43:
Eagles boys coach Matt Ruta called it a win “where we finally played like I think we can.” Westwood coach Al Timmerman, meanwhile, couldn’t disagree.“It’s how I expected them to play,” he said. “We owned the first half — and they really owned the second.”The Wildcats led, 29-25, at halftime, but were simply out played in the second half as Sherwood won its home opener by outscoring Westwood by a staggering 48-14 after halftime.“We’ve got so many new kids, so many kids who haven’t played — it’s just taking awhile for everyone to find what they’re good at,” said Ruta, whose team improved to 2-2 overall, while handing Westwood (2-1) its first defeat of the season. “Last year, we had a great inside presence, but this year we don’t as much. So we’re just trying to find our identity. And I think we took a big step (Tuesday night).”Leading the way in the win was SCA’s Brannan Anthony, who was the high man for both teams with 18 points, followed by John Schramm (16) and Gary Holloway (14).The Wildcats, meanwhile, got a team-high 10 from Jake Edore and 9 from Andrew Adams. Timmerman said he knew when his team missed a few easy shots after halftime — and then watched Sherwood quickly go from trailing to leading — the momentum had officially swung in the Eagles’ favor.“We got behind in a hurry,” he said. “And if Sherwood was struggling before (Tuesday night), they sure didn’t look it the way they played in the second half.”