Gold team
perseveres
The Woodstock Academy Gold squad was tested a couple of times, but persevered and raised its record to 6-0 with three wins in the Power 5 Conference Tip Off tournament over the weekend and before that, a victory over Navy Prep.
“We’re happy but we’re still not satisfied. We’re not where we need to be yet,” forward Tre Williams said after the Centaurs pulled out a 59-35 win over Thetford Academy Gold Nov. 11 at the Alumni Fieldhouse. “We just have to keep preparing for the bigger and better teams down the road.”
The Gold team won’t have to wait long for that.
The Centaurs play their first road games of the season this weekend against some prestigious prep programs this weekend.
Woodstock Academy will take part in the National Prep Showcase at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven. The Centaurs take on IMG Academy from Florida at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and will play Massanutten Military Academy out of Virginia at 3:15 p.m. on Sunday.
“Especially IMG, we’ve heard so much about them,” Centaurs wing Preston Santos said. “Coach (Tony Bergeron) has told us that they are nationally ranked and are a very prestigious school, athletically. We have to prepare for that.”
Williams agreed.
“Those will be two pretty tough matchups, they are really going to test us, see what we’re made of,” Williams added. “Coach said they are going to be pretty good, tough and nasty just like this team (Thetford Academy) who tried to force us into pressure.”
The Centaurs didn’t have much trouble with the Thetford squad out of Quebec, Canada.
Woodstock Academy opened a 20-5 lead early on the strength of their 3-point shooting.
Noah Fernandes, who scored all of his team-leading 11 points in the first half, put down a pair of 3-pointers in the first 3 ½ minutes of the game.
Trey Anderson and Tre Mitchell also hit 3’s in the early going, but those went away as the game progressed and baskets started to come at a premium.
The Centaurs led 33-18 at the half and, if there were any doubts, put those to bed with a 12-1 run early in the second half to go up by 26 points.
“It was great to get three wins in three days. We needed that going into (this) weekend with some momentum. Now, we get to rest our bodies and get prepared,” Williams said.
Nov. 10, the Centaurs Gold squad broke out to a 23-point lead in the first half and rolled to an 89-64 win over The Knox School.
If there was a concern the Centaurs had coming into the game, it was their ability to keep their foot on the gas and deliver the knockout blow.
The Centaurs have been very good at getting out of the gates, only to let their opponents creep back into the contest.
“We were a little bit better with that (Saturday). At the beginning of the game, we did that, but then we took our foot off again. That’s something we should not do. We have to run them out of the gym, no matter what team it is,” Santos said.
Mitchell scored 13 of his 19 points in the first half while Anderson added 16 and Jeremy Robinson 11, all in the second half, for the Centaurs.
The Centaurs opened the tournament on Friday with a 105-82 win over Combine Academy.
A balanced attack led the Centaurs to the victory.
Six players scored in double figures for Woodstock Academy led by Mitchell, Santos and Robinson whom all finished with 12 points while Matt Cross and Williams had 11 each and Anderson added 10.
Navy Prep didn’t have a lot of height Nov. 7.
It made up for the deficiency with its heart and gave the Gold squad quite the tussle before Woodstock Academy posted an 86-70 win at the Alumni Fieldhouse.
The Centaurs broke out to a 25-4 lead in the first 8 minutes, 8 seconds of the game thanks, in part, to four 3-pointers including two from 6-foot, 9-inch big man Mitchell.
Those were the only 3-pointers of the half for Woodstock Academy and Navy Prep (3-2), despite having no player larger than 6-5, gradually worked itself back into the contest.
Navy Prep cut the deficit to 15 by halftime as it outscored the Centaurs 20-15 in the final 10 minutes.
The visitors got as close as seven points, 50-43, on a Jarrod Jackson basket with 13:23 left.
The Centaurs responded with a pair of Cross (10 points) baskets and a Robinson hoop to re-establish the double-digit lead.
The Centaurs also had an ace in the hole that Navy Prep just could not counter.
Mitchell was virtually unstoppable inside as he scored 25 second half points, including his third 3-pointer of the game, to keep the Centaurs ahead.
Mitchell finished with 38 points.
Santos added 12 for the Gold squad.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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