Sherando finishes off rival James Wood

By Jeremy Stafford - jstafford@nvdaily.com

STEPHENS CITY -- It's never easy to guard James Wood senior Trae Tinsman. The all-district guard can shoot from 25-feet out, skate through the paint, and carry a team on his back, if need be. But with Sherando senior James Bowens tied to his hips, Tinsman shouldered only two field goals and six points, as James Wood fell to Sherando 66-57 on Tuesday night in the Region II, Division 4 quarterfinals.

For Bowens, who's had to match up against Tinsman quite regularly over the years, defending the Colonels' sharpshooter takes a keen, experienced pair of eyes.

"I've played against Trae Tinsman a couple times now and it's definitely not easy to guard him, he's definitely [someone who] can shoot from everywhere -- he's lights out," Bowens said. "You just have to watch him a little bit, you just have to learn, and you can tell maybe by the way he's playing. You just kinda get a feel for what he wants to do with the ball when he gets it.

"But it's still really hard to guard him."

Which is why it helped Sherando's cause that center Terry Wood scored a game-high 27 points for the Warriors, giving Sherando something of a cushion in case of a late James Wood run.

Depleted at center -- Mason Smith had spent Sunday in the hospital with a stomach virus, and James Thorne picked up three fouls by halftime -- James Wood had few answers for Wood.

"I definitely had a little bit more body, so I tried to force my way inside and draw some fouls on them," said Wood, who converted 9-of -11 free throws. "I went to the line and made foul shots."

On Saturday, with a full line of post players, James Wood held Wood to only one field goal and five points in the Northwestern District final.

Knowing that Smith was dehydrated going into Tuesday's game, Colonels coach Al Smith devised a package aimed at defending Wood with minimal post support. But with only two days separating the district final and regional quarterfinal, the new defense was hardly effective.

"We had something in place but we just didn't execute it the way we needed to," Al Smith said. "And I knew with what we had in place, you really needed more than one day of practice to really get it."

And though the Sherando seniors have been mulling over the possibility of advancing this deep into the playoffs for four years, it took Wood, a sophomore, to finally provide those seniors with the presence on the blocks necessary to advance.

"Ever since I've been playing here, even since freshman year, we haven't had a genuine big-man," Bowens said. "We've had people around 6-foot height that were playing guard, and people around 5-11 height that were playing big-man. It's a big change [with Wood]. You're a lot more confident when you drive, you're a lot more confident when you shoot.

"There's just always that extra chance that someone's gonna get that rebound for you."

James Wood kept pace with Sherando through the first half, but the Warriors closed out the third quarter with a 12-4 run. Sherando scored 20 points in the third quarter, to James Wood's 13. In addition to Wood's six points that quarter, Bowens scored eight of his 10 points in the period, while Darren Baker added all four of his points. Tinsman hit his second 3-pointer of the game in the third quarter, the final one of his James Wood career. Chris Skinner and Chad Potter led the Colonels with 14 points each, and Brock Lockhart added 11.

Sherando will travel to Liberty on Thursday in a regional semifinal game. Sherando defeated Liberty 72-68 in Stephens City on Jan. 15.

"It was a real close game here and we were able to squeeze by them here," Sherando coach Garland Williams said of Liberty. "But we know they're very strong, I've seen them play a couple times and they are very good -- it's gonna be a tough game.

"I'm just glad to advance."