SHERWOOD BOYS 74, WINDSOR 26:

Sherwood jumped on Windsor early, scoring 61 points in the first half. Wesley Pittman and Brannan Anthony scored 17 points apiece for Sherwood. “We came out with a lot of defensive intensity,” Sherwood coach Matt Ruta said. “It’s been awhile since we played this well.” Sherwood’s next game is Friday against Valwood.

5-0 IN THE REGION!!!! Whoop Whoop

The Eagles have won 12 of their last 14 games after starting the year 1-2 and now sit on the verge of their first Region 3-AA championship in six years.

At 5-0 in Region 3-AA, it would take an awfully lot of bad things to happen for Sherwood not to win its first region championship since 2004.This after the Eagles survived Tiftarea, 63-58, on Friday night to seize control of 3-AA — with just three region games left to play before hosting the tournament in mid-February.“Big win,” said SCA coach Matt Ruta, whose team has won 12 of its last 14 games after starting the year 1-2. “We beat them by one earlier this year. It’s just a big, big win for this program.”The three remaining opponents for SCA — which was led Friday by Wesley Pittman and Gary Holloway’s 12 points each, followed by Brannan Anthony with 11 — the Eagles have already beaten.But Ruta’s not ready to crown his kids just yet.“Well, one of those (games) is against SGA (which we went to double overtime with) and another is with Valwood, who just got a transfer from Valdosta High who scored 25 the other night in a win against Tiftarea,” he said. “So nothing’s certain, but we like where we’re at for sure.”The SCA girls, meanwhile, were routed by Tiftarea (17-1, 4-0), 73-29, behind 15 points from star Courtney Albritton. Kaylee Dixon and Emilee Cook each scored six for SCA (7-9, 3-2).

Sherwood, SGA boys go into OT as Eagles pull out win to move into first place in region

DAMASCUS — You wouldn’t expect anything less than a thriller from the top two boys teams in GISA Region 2-AA.And that’s exactly what Sherwood and SGA delivered Tuesday night — needing overtime — in a showdown for first place in conference as the Eagles held on for a 55-47 win.“The fans certainly got their money’s worth (Tuesday night),” said SGA coach David Byrne, whose team fell to 6-9 overall and 2-2 in region after starting 2-0, while Sherwood moved to 4-0 in region and 12-4 overall.“We are happy to be No. 1 but we gotta get a lot better.” Sherwood head coach Matt Ruta said. “We survived (this time).”Wesley Pittman scored a team-high 12 points for Sherwood, while Pete McSwain added 11 in the win. SGA’s Parker Adams led all players with 14 points.

Catch up ... games last Friday and Saturday

Sherwood boys close strong, down Southland; Lady Raiders roll SCA girls Led by Wesley Pittman and Brannan Anthony, the Eagles earn a big road win Friday against Southland. Posted: 9:58 PM Jan 15, 2010 Reporter: Scott Chancey Email Address: scott.chancey@albanyherald.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sherwood boys beat Southland; Lady Raiders roll Sherwood's Brannan Anthony led the Eagles with 17 points on Friday night in a 55-39 drubbing of Southland in Americus. AMERICUS — One common denominator in the Sherwood Christian boys’ nine previous wins before Friday’s contest at Southland Academy was building double-digit leads. Another was nearly blowing them. That was not the case, however, against the GISA Class AAA Raiders as coach Matt Ruta’s Class AA Eagles went on a 17-3, second-half run for a 55-39 victory That’s the best we’ve closed a game by far,” Ruta said. “We had really focused on closing games out during the past couple of weeks.” Brannan Anthony led Sherwood (10-4) with 17 points, followed by Wesley Pittman and Gary Holloway with 10 each. Calling in from the road after previous close wins, Ruta often expressed frustration at his team’s lack of intensity near game’s end. Pittman also had experienced that frustration but did not show any after Friday’s win. Making two 3-pointers during Friday’s game, Pittman said the timing could not be better for Sherwood to build a lead and hold it since the region playoffs are a month away. “In the playoffs, all the teams are good so they are going to make a run at you,” Pittman said. “Hopefully, we can repeat this in the future.” Ruta, however, did become frustrated at times during the first half after Sherwood built a double-digit lead and had trouble adjusting to Southland’s slower pace. “We play best at a fast pace, and Southland did a really good job in slowing things down,” Ruta said. Sherwood began its game-changing run with defense when Anthony blocked a Rolie Hancock shot. Eagles teammate John Schramm then made a steal that resulted in a Pete McSwain layup and 31-24 lead. A strong move for a layup by Holloway kept the momentum from the third quarter as the Eagles’ defense created key turnovers, leading to a 46-27 lead in the fourth quarter. The Eagles, from there, never looked back. “Our defense was the key,” Anthony said. “It just came up big for us. We played hard on defense, especially in the second half, and had great energy all the way around.” Raiders coach Ernest Scott, on the other hand, is just trying to build on his team’s youth and inexperience. It struggled when Sherwood sped up the pace at game’s end. “They got a lot of transitional baskets and that came from unforced turnovers,” Scott said. “We didn’t get back enough in transition.” Southland (6-11) was led by Andres Chaparro with 15 points, followed by Jose Hernandez with 10.

SATURDAY SHERWOOD BOYS 50, WESTWOOD 25:
The Eagles had no trouble Saturday, beating Westwood for the second time this season. Though. SCA coach Matt Ruta wasn’t exactly pleased with the effort one night after what he called his team’s most complete game of the season in a win against Southland on the road. “I think we were tired,” said Ruta, whose record is now 11-4 overall. “We got up big by halftime and led by about 25 or 30 going into the fourth quarter. I guess we played OK.” John Schramm led SCA with 15 points, followed by Wesley Pittman with 10. Jake Kotter and Mason Jones each led Westwood with 6. If SCA can beat SGA on Tuesday in its region showdown, the Eagles will be alone in first place. SGA comes into the game 2-0 in region, while Sherwood is 3-0.

CRAZYYYYYYYYYYYNESSSSSSSSSSSSSS

SHERWOOD BOYS 61, TIFTAREA 60:
In a hard-fought game by both teams, Tiftarea missed two shots within the final 10 seconds, either of which would've beaten Sherwood as the Eagles improved to 7-3 overall and 1-0 in GISA Region 3-AA.Tiftarea saw the return of one of its star players, Wes Carter, who scored 13 points and missed one of those final shots that could've upset SCA. Sumner McWhorter led with way for Tift with 18 points.But it wasn't enough as the Eagles had three players break double figures.Brannan Anthony and Gary Holloway paced Sherwood with 16 points each, followed by Wesley Pittman's 14.The game, however, shoudn't have ever been as close as it was. Sherwood more than once had leads of 13 points or better and couldn't hang on."I told the guys afterward I wasn't real happy about this win because we continue to get big leads and fail to close it out," SCA coach Matt Ruta said. "Playing well for three quarters isn't gonna cut it." Tiftarea missed a running shot in the lane in the final seconds that would've put it ahead by one point, then both teams scrambled for a loose ball, prompting a jump ball. Tift got control of the ball and popped it out to Carter, who couldn't connect on the last-second miracle."We defended it well," Ruta said of the last shot. "It was a hard shot from a bad angle. It was one of those where (everyone in the gym) would've been impressed if he could've made it."

FAMILY PHOTOS

Here are the "backstage" photos from the family photoshoot we had... it was the first time everyone was in the same place at the same time!!! we had a blastttttttttttttttttt

THIRD PLACE IN TFA TOURNAMENT

We had an awesome time in orlando at the Christmas Tournament!!! the boys played AWESOME!!!... here are the Albany articles from the tournament


SCA BOYS 64, ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 56: The Eagles’ Wesley Pittman made seven 3-pointers, including two during a game-turning stretch, and finished with 23 points in an Orlando, Fla., tournament. “We came out strong,” Sherwood coach Matt Ruta said. “We led, 24-9, after the first quarter and we were up 20 in the third, but we kind of relaxed after that and they came back. After they got within six, Wesley made a couple of big 3-pointers and we held them off.” John Schramm scored 13 for the Eagles (5-2), followed by Brannan Anthony with 11 and Gary Holloway with 10. Sherwood plays an undetermined opponent at 6:15 p.m. today AMERICAN HERITAGE BOYS 66, SCA 50: A brief lapse in the second quarter proved costly for the Eagles in an Orlando, Fla., tournament. “We were winning the game, 23-20, about halfway through the second quarter and they went on something like a 13-0 run on us,” said Eagles coach Matt Ruta, whose team’s record is 5-3. “We played toe-to-toe with them the rest of the way, but we just couldn’t execute at times when it really counted.” Sherwood was led by Gary Holloway with 12 points, followed by Brannan Anthony with 10 and Wesley Pittman with nine. Sherwood plays East River for third place at 6:15 p.m. today in Orlando SCA BOYS 58, EAST RIVER 47: In an Orlando, Fla., tourney, the Eagles clinched third place and Wesley Pittman was named to the All-Tournament team. Pittman scored 19 Wednesday, followed by Brannan Anthony with 10 and Pete McSwain with nine. “We were up by 20 at one point, so we need to do a better job closing out games,” Sherwood coach Matt Ruta said. “Overall we played well, but I’d just like to see us cruise down the stretch next time.” Sherwood’s record is 6-3.