After a bit of a rough time around the Thanksgiving holiday, the Woodstock Gold prep basketball team got back on track this past weekend. The Centaurs broke a three-game losing streak with a 90-76 win over Worcester Academy Dec. 4. They followed that up with a 93-45 win over Hoosac School Dec. 5. The wins raised the Centaurs’ record to 7-3.
Coach Jacque Rivera said:  “If we had won three in a row, I would still want to win just as bad. I think it’s good to get a win in the column but it’s about how you get a win. I think we did some things in our losses that is not true to who we are. We played with more aggression (Saturday), we play better at home, but we just want to get this thing going in the right direction.”
The Gold had lost to Hargrave Military Academy and Mt. Zion Prep at the National Prep Showcase tournament prior to the Thanksgiving holiday break and then to South Kent School on the road Dec. 1 by double digits.
It can be a bumpy road  for programs as the Thanksgiving break is followed closely by the Christmas break, which for the Centaurs, will begin after its games on Dec. 18. “It’s tough to keep consistency, but more importantly, it’s tough to figure out how hard you have to play. We practice every day but it still doesn’t seem like how hard we have to play. We play a unique style, you have to adjust during a game with the referees, so no matter how much we practice or breaks there are, we have to have a level of grit and I think we had that (against Worcester Academy),” Rivera said.
The Hilltoppers (1-1) kept it close in the first half. The Centaurs’ biggest lead came late when Travonne Jackson (13 points) and Jamine Charles hit baskets to put Woodstock up, 42-34, with 32 seconds left.
But Kayvaun Mulready had a potential momentum-turning play at the buzzer when he hit a 3-pointer from near halfcourt to reduce the deficit to five points.
Woodstock  held on to that lead until a 7-1 run by Worcester Academy in the second half, reducing the lead to 52-51.
Walter Andrew only finished with six points, but all of those came within just over two minutes and it ignited a 19-3 Woodstock run. That put the Centaurs up, 71-54, with 10 minutes, 10 seconds to play.
“I thought that was really great,” Rivera said. “Walter is kind of buying into what we need him to do. Walter has to be our muscle. If you look at our roster, he is the only kid who has played New England prep school basketball. He gets the ruggedness of this. We need him to do that, need him to do it a certain way and we need him to do it exactly what he did (on Saturday); drive it downhill, be aggressive defensively, rebound from the guard spot because he understands it doesn’t have to be pretty.”
The Hilltoppers did get back within six, 74-68, five minutes later thanks to the efforts of Tre Norman. The guard finished with 35 points for Worcester Academy, most of those coming from the free throw line where he made 23-of-29.
Tyshawn Trail stymied Worcester’s attempt to rally as he scored six of his team-high 22 points to spark an 8-2 run and give the Centaurs the much-needed win. The guard scored 16 points, all but three in the first half when Woodstock opened a 49-27 lead by the break, to top three Centaurs in double figures. Jayshane Woodard contributed 12 points while Jalen Pitre chipped in with 10.
Centaurs Blue Team Rolls to Win
The Centaurs raised their record to 5-5 with a 58-26 win over Hoosac School Dec. 5. The Centaurs owned a 30-16 lead at the break and limited the visitors to just 10 points in the final 20 minutes.
Chiwer Mayen from Jackson, Mich., led the Blue squad with 12 points while Antigua’s Jaden Andrews added 10 in the low-scoring game. The Centaurs split their opening two games last week, beating South Kent on the road Dec. 1.
But things were a bit more difficult Dec. 3 when it lost to Speights Academy in the Zero Gravity tournament played in Boston.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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