With only two players with significant experience returning, questions proliferated for the Wakefield Warriors when the squad opened the boys high-school basketball season Tuesday night (Dec. 2).
Senior guards Jeremiah Poole and Dyson Beaty — a starter and top substitute, respectively, from last season — are those top returners. The duo and their teammates began answering those concerns when Wakefield routed the visiting Falls Church Jaguars, 70-39, in its first contest.
“We are young and old with some seniors, but we have no experienced varsity players other than Jeremiah,” Wakefield coach Tony Bentley told ARLnow. “We are figuring things out and playing through this.”
To continue winning, Bentley said the Warriors will have to repeat what they did against Falls Church: play strong defense, limit turnovers, be active throughout games and play hard.
Wakefield finished 12-12 last season, reaching the Liberty District tournament semifinals to earn a 6D North Region tournament berth.
In the 2025-26 opener, Falls Church struggled against Wakefield’s full-court press, turning the ball over 28 times. Wakefield had 18 steals spread among seven players.
“I liked our defensive intensity [against Falls Church] and we were active,” Bentley said. “On offense we attacked their zone defense well in the second half. We have some little guards who are pests.”
Among those guards are Beaty and Poole. Beaty scored 11 points, had four assists and four steals against Falls Church, with Poole scoring 10, making two three-pointers and having three steals.
Other starters were junior center Andre Larue (four points, six rebounds and a block), sophomore guard Tyson Ordenes (six points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals) and senior forward Tre’Sean Evans (five points, four steals).
Wakefield led throughout the opener. The Warriors took a quick 4-0 lead and were ahead 15-9 after the first quarter, 29-16 at halftime and 46-25 after three periods.
The Wakefield bench had a strong showing, as the substitutes combined to score 31 points. Sophomore forward Rayvon Hackley led those backups with a game-high 16 points to go with three rebounds and two steals. Hackley made all five of his shots from the floor and sank five of six free throws.
Also off the bench, junior forward Nate Idlet had six points and three boards, senior guard Tyree Bowman scored five, junior guard Connor Morrison made a three-pointer and had two rebounds, and sophomore guard Jose Oliva and senior forward Ja’mharie Price scored two each.
Wakefield turned the ball over nine times in the first half, but only three times in the second. The Warriors made six three-pointers, shot 46 percent from the floor and had 29 rebounds.
NOTES: Bentley needs four more wins this season to reach his 400th career varsity coaching victory, all at Wakefield. Idlet, a junior, is the son of former Wakefield standout Nate Idlet, who played for the Warriors and Bentley years ago.
