It was a nice way to go into the Thanksgiving break for the Woodstock Academy Gold prep basketball team.
The Centaurs traveled to Albertus Magnus College not once, but twice, over the weekend to play a pair of national prep championship contenders, IMG from Florida and Massanutten Military Academy, oddly enough, from Woodstock, Va.
The Centaurs came home with a pair of victories; 80-57 over IMG Saturday and 88-71 against Massanutten Nov. 18.
The two victories raised the Centaurs record to 8-0.
“This one was big,” forward Matt Cross said after the win over Massanutten. “They were a top-five (ranked in the polls) just like we are so this one was pretty big.”
The Gold team turned it on and turned it off a little in the Nov. 18 game.
They opened an 11-2 lead thanks to 3-pointers from Cross and guard Noah Fernandes – who officially inked his National Letter of Intent to play at Wichita State next season over the weekend- and a slam by Trey Anderson.
But Massanutten answered with eight of the next nine points to cut the Centaurs lead to two.
The key for Woodstock Academy was while it let the Raiders get close throughout the contest; it never let them take the lead.
The Centaurs re-established the nine-point lead on a Fernandes jumper, the guard finished with nine points in 25 minutes of playing time.
But it was only a two-point difference again at the break after Dan Corley hit one of his two baskets in the game, a 3-pointer with 1 minute, 19 seconds left in the first half.
Tre Mitchell (17 points, 8 rebounds) put the Centaurs back up by four, 35-31, with a pair of free throws, but Brandon Suggs scored with three seconds left in the first half to pare Woodstock Academy’s lead to two.
“Coach (Tony Bergeron) told us at halftime that we just had to play harder than (Massanutten) because we knew we were more talented. If we played as hard as they were, we knew it would be over. We outworked them in the second half,” Cross said.
It didn’t happen immediately.
Massanutten pulled within one, 39-38, on a fast-break basket by Jarren McAllister, a Virginia Commonwealth University commit, who finished with 20 points.
After a Mitchell hoop, Dereon Seabron (21 points), pulled the Raiders back within one when he got above the rim and slammed it home.
But a pair of Anderson 3-pointers finally ignited the Centaurs who established their first double-digit lead, 57-46, after a Cross basket with 10:46 to play.
Massanutten got back as close as five, but a 10-2 run by the Centaurs in just a little over two minutes, gave the Centaurs a 13-point lead. Massanutten never got closer than eight points the remainder of the way.
“We just have more depth on the bench. We just kept throwing guys at them while the same guys were playing for them and they just got tired,” Cross said.
Cross led the Centaurs in his first National Prep Showcase appearance with 20 points.
“It’s big because this is where all the media and coaches are. It was big to show what we could do here and it was cool,” Cross said.
Cross was also one of the Centaurs top scorers against IMG.
He finished with 12 points, dished out three assists and had two steals.
Jacob Toppin impressed a lot of those on hand as he and Fernandes led the team with 13 points apiece. Mitchell was again tough inside with 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
“We got our name from last year’s team so we want to prove ourselves by beating the bigger teams. I think we proved that we are as good as last year. We’re back,” Cross said.
The Centaurs are also off this week for Thanksgiving break and won’t return to the floor until Nov. 29 when they play at Redemption Christian Academy in Northfield, Mass.
Blue Posts 2 Wins
The Centaurs Blue team raised its record to 5-1 with a pair of victories last week.
The Blue squad traveled to New York and handed Hoosac School a 109-62 loss.
Big men Skylar Kooyenga and Srdja Marinkovich each scored eight points to lead a balanced attack for the Blue team while Isaiah Jones tossed in six.
Nov. 14 the Centaurs downed Army Prep 92-54.
Darweshi Hunter exploded for 29 points in the win while Ty Mosley added 16, Jeff Planutis 14 and Dyson Frank 10.
The Blue squad has a home game Nov. 28 against the Mitchell College JV before traveling to Redemption Christian Academy with the Gold team Nov. 29.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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