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WOODSTOCK — The wins, over No. 4 Hargrave Military Academy and sixth-ranked CBD Montverde, were great for the seventh-ranked Woodstock Academy Gold squad last weekend at the National Prep Showcase at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven.
But it wasn’t what made coach Tony Bergeron happy.
“A lot of our kids got traction with colleges,” Bergeron said. “Playing in front of that type of exposure is exactly why you come to a place like Woodstock Academy and we certainly were able to deliver. Over 100 colleges and over 10 NBA scouts viewed our kids,” Bergeron said.
Tre Mitchell, the Centaurs’ 6-foot, 9-inch forward, received a Division I offer from Georgia Tech. Bergeron felt that Mitchell and Ty Perry both helped themselves as did Ryan Olmslaer and Elijah Buchanan.
“A lot of the guys really got some interest and we will start getting more phone calls (Monday) as well,” Bergeron said.
One of his players took himself off the board Nov. 20.
Jakigh Dottin went home to his native Cambridge, Mass., where he announced he will be headed to Maryland to play basketball for Division I Towson University.
“I’m overwhelmed, very happy, it’s a dream come true. I’ve been working for this all my life. For me to finally get to this point, it’s great,” Dottin said. “Towson is a really great place. Me and my mom had (Towson) on our minds because they have been after me since the beginning in April when the live period first started. They checked off the box that I wanted in the schools I was looking at, they made it feel like home.”
Bergeron felt the choice for Dottin to go and play in the Colonial Athletic Association fit the point guard very well.
“Towson has an awesome coaching staff. Coach (Pat) Skerry has been a friend of mine for two decades with Coach (Kevin) Clark. They did a great job recruiting him. They will hand him the ball right when he comes in. He’s a great leader and that’s what they are looking for,” Bergeron said.
The wins over the weekend also will help the Gold team when it comes to the rankings on the national prep circuit.
The top four teams in most polls all lost over the weekend.
It should vault the Centaurs into, at least, the top five in the nation.
“We’re consensus top five across the board. It’s hard when you’re there because you will get everybody’s best shot. You can’t have a bad day,” Bergeron said.
Bergeron considers Brewster Academy, on paper, to be the best team in the country.
But Brewster Academy had one of those bad days on Sunday morning in New Haven and lost to unranked Mount Zion Prep, 72-68.
The two wins for the Centaurs raised their record to 8-0 going into the Thanksgiving break.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Bergeron admitted. “I had a bunch of kids that I didn’t know. Now that I know them, and I know how they interact and their level of character, I do expect wins out of them.”
He got them this past weekend
Bergeron looked at the stats after his team defeated Hargrave Military Academy (Va.), 91-86, Friday.
He just shook his head.
Ty Perry scored only three points, Elijah Buchanan had only four and Luis Rodriguez fouled out with 1 minute, 40 seconds left and the score tied at 81.
Somehow, the Centaurs overcame all of that to beat the No. 4 team in the country.
“Any time when you get a win over Hargrave Military Academy, you have to be excited,” Bergeron said.
Dottin was the key down the stretch.
Dottin broke the tie with a bucket with 1:09 left and proceeded to hit eight straight from the free throw line to carry Woodstock Academy to the win,
“It’s a great opportunity to show yourself, show your toughness and knock some free throws down for your teammates,” said Dottin who finished with 19 points.
Bergeron told the Centaurs in the numerous timeouts down the stretch to get the ball to their point guard.
“He was saying, ‘Get the ball to Jakigh, he’s on fire from the free throw line. Get him the ball and let him knock down two,” Dottin said.
Mitchell also chose a good time to shine.
Mitchell scored 17 points and dominated the paint after getting two early fouls.
“It’s like once or twice in a lifetime that you get to show what you got to people like that. I know I was going up against a top recruit who I saw a few highlights on and I knew I had to go at him,” Mitchell said.
“That’s my man,” Dottin said with a laugh in reference to Mitchell. “I’m happy for him. He’s young and for him to get out there, show his skills and what he can do, it was a great opportunity for him.”
Jeameril Wilson was perfect for the Centaurs Sunday, going 8-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from the line to share game-high honors with teammate Ty Perry, both finished with 21 points, in the 89-78 win over CBD Montverde.
Mitchell added 15 points and eight rebounds.
The Gold team is off until Thursday, Nov. 30 when it visits Redemption Christian.
Blue squad falls below .500
A long ride across state lines to New Rochelle, N.Y. did not prove to be a fruitful one.
The Blue squad fell to the Monroe Community College JV, 80-64.
Sophomore Danny Dade scored 16 points, including four 3-pointers, but could not stop the Blue from falling to 3-4 on the season.
Paul Kingsley added 12 points while Luke Magree tossed in seven in the loss.
The Centaurs scheduled game Sunday versus Apollo Amsterdam was cancelled due to weather concerns.
The Blue squad also resumes the season on Nov. 30 at Redemption Christian.
Nov. 14
Woodstock Academy Gold 121
Spire Academy I 99
WOODSTOCK — Ty Perry scored 13 of his 19 points in a 3 ½ minute stretch early in the game to give the Centaurs (6-0) a lead they would not relinquish.
Luis Rodriguez led Woodstock with 27 points, 14 of those came in the first half when Woodstock put 61 points on the board.
Maksim Karvanen added 18 points as the Centaurs finished with seven players in double figures.
Spire Academy II 99
Woodstock Academy Blue 95
WOODSTOCK – The Centaurs Blue squad got off to a slow start and never recovered in the loss.
Spire Academy scored the first nine points of the game and led by double figures, until Alex Illic reeled off nine of his game-high 29 points to spark an 18-2 run for Woodstock that helped the Centaurs trail by only seven at the half.
Spire Academy scored nine of the first 11 points in the second half to retake control.
Danny Dade, E.J. Dambreville and Gedi Juozapaitis all had 13 points in the loss for Woodstock (3-3).
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
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