Rudolph guides Judges to huge district win

View larger image Derek Dowrey View larger image Jacob Rudolph

By Jerry Holsworth - sports@nvdaily.com

STEPHENS CITY -- A loud, packed house welcomed Sherando and Handley to the court to begin a boys basketball game that was important in deciding the Northwestern District title. For a quarter the Warriors played like a team that was about to be crowned the regular-season champ.

But with Sherando holding a narrow two-point lead with a minute to play in the first period, Handley's Jacob Rudolph took charge of the game and put the Judges ahead for good in their 70-60 win. Handley now moves to within a half-game of Sherando for first place. If the Judges win against James Wood on Monday, the Warriors and Judges will share the regular season title.

What Rudolph did with 52 seconds to play in the first quarter was hit three straight 3-pointers from well behind the 3-point line.

"When he started that string of shots that hurt," Warriors coach Garland Williams said. "We were on him, and you really don't expect many high school players to make shots from that range. But he did, and that really got them off to a good start."

Rudolph's first 3-pointer gave Handley its first lead of the game, but Warrior guard Taylor Loudan was in no mood to hand the Judges anything, and scored the next two baskets to put Sherando back ahead 20-17.

Then with just one second left on the clock, Rudolph nailed another 3-pointer to tie the game, 20-20.

Handley center Derek Dowrey scored on a jumper to begin the second quarter, and a few seconds later Rudolph struck again, giving the Judges a 25-20. Handley wouldn't trail again.

Rudolph's heroics seemed to charge his Judges and deflate the Warriors. His third 3-pointer in less than two minutes drove an 8-0 run by Handley over the first two minutes of the period.

"Those baskets were big, especially considering that he hadn't practiced all week," Handley coach Tommy Dixon said. "He did an outstanding job for us. Those baskets not only lifted our spirits, but probably deflated Sherando's too."

While the Judges were hitting on all cylinders, Sherando's offense fell apart. Hitting just 3 of their 11 second-period field-goal attempts, the Warriors were behind 42-27 by intermission.

"What we did differently in the second quarter was run the ball," Dixon said. "When we run the ball and move it down the floor, we're a different team. I've been preaching that all year, and now they're starting to understand. We need to get the ball and get it up and down the floor."

During the critical second quarter, five Judges also got into the act and contributed points. Dowrey controlled play inside the paint despite playing facing Sherando center Terry Wood, who is a full 6 inches taller.

The Judges senior scored nine of his 13 points during the period. In fairness to Wood, the Warrior senior spent three minutes of the period in the training room with a minor injury.

When Wood came back to the court with three minutes left in the first half, he led a furious Sherando comeback in the last minutes of the first half and into the third quarter.

Trailing by 15 to begin the second half, Wood took charge of the Warrior offense and whittled Handley's lead to 11 points, 53-42, with just a minute to play in the third quarter.

The Judges, however, responded with two quick buckets by Darion Robinson and Solomon Finley.

"They're a very sound ball club and they can bring kids off the bench and not lose much," Williams said. "I thought our kids did a good job, we just have to figure out a way to do a better job. There were a couple of things that cost us tonight, and we'll have to work on those."

Sherando, trailing 59-42 with just eight minutes to play, still made a furious effort to get back into the game. Handley countered with a ball-control offense that patiently bled time off the clock, but failed to produce points.

They also missed the front end of three straight one-and-one opportunities from the line.

That gave the Warriors some hope as they drew to within nine, 64-55 with 1:12 play, but as suddenly as Handley's free throw shooting went cold, it heated up again.

"We moved the ball around well at the end of the game, but I didn't think we were really looking to score," Dixon said.

Robbie Lawler, Chris Skinner, and Rudolph combined for four free throws over the final minute of play to seal the win for the Judges.

"This is obviously very disappointing," Williams said. "We thought that we had a good game plan, and were ready."

Rudolph led Handley with 19 points. Dowrey had 13 points for the Judges, and Lawler contributed 11.

The only bright spot for Sherando in the final quarter was a free throw made by Wood with 3:42 left in the game. That free throw game the Warrior senior 1,000 points for his career at Sherando. He finished the night with a team-high 20 points.

Loudan, who powered the Warriors' offense in the first quarter with eight points, finished the night with 19 points.