Shane Morrison scored the first points for the Wakefield Warriors boys basketball team on a three-pointer, and then the last of the game on a winning backdoor layup.
In between those baskets, a lot happened in Wakefield’s 55-53 seesaw victory over the West Springfield Spartans in an opening-round boys high-school contest of the George Long Holiday Tournament.
The Thursday (Dec. 26) game had nine lead changes and five ties after Wakefield built early leads of 8-0 and 14-4.
The Warriors made 18 of 18 foul shots and Wakefield won despite leading scorer Jeremiah Poole being limited to just two points. He also had three assists and two steals.
Wakefield was led in scoring by 6-foot-7 center Kooper Odar. The senior had his best high-school game by scoring 23 points, pulling 10 rebounds, blocking four shots and having a steal and an assist.
Odar was 7 of 7 from the foul line and 8 of 11 shooting from the floor.
“That’s the kind of game we hope to get from Kooper,” Wakefield coach Tony Bentley told ARLnow. “The overall foul shooting is what won it for us.”
Senior forward Gabe Henneman had 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists for Wakefield, and Isaiah Ledbetter provided a spark with eight points off the bench.
In addition to providing the opening and closing baskets, Morrison added two free throws for seven points to go with five rebounds and four assists.
Bentley credited West Springfield for playing well. Wakefield had defeated the Spartans a few days earlier by 20 points.
“They came ready to play and I didn’t have our team ready,” Bentley said. “I think because we had already beaten them, our guys thought it was going to be easy again.”
The winning basket came on a set screen play designed during a timeout. Morrison took a pass from Henneman and made the wide-open layup.
West Springfield had a chance to win, but a last-second three-pointer by Aaron Lowman (22 points, four assists) hit the front of the rim and bounced away as the final buzzer sounded.
West Springfield led 53-51 with 2:27 to play, but Wakefield scored the final four points, with Henneman tying the score at 53 on a layup with 1:59 left on the clock.
Wakefield led 16-8 at the end of the first quarter, 26-24 at halftime and 44-41 after three periods. The lead changed six times in the fourth quarter.
“We played well and better than the first time we met them this season,” West Springfield coach Terry Henderson said. “We did a good job on the boards, but they shot free throws so well, and we had four or five possessions we’d like to have over.”
NOTE: West Springfield was a late entry into the tournament, replacing Freedom-Woodbridge, which withdrew. “I want to thank West Springfield and Terry Henderson for helping us out and playing in this tournament,” Bentley told ARLnow.
