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The search is over for Woodstock Academy Blue prep basketball player Nahshon Battle.
The New Jersey native decided early last week to commit to play for St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt.
“I went down for my visit a few weeks ago and Coach (Eric) Eaton is really the first who took a sincere interest in me and had my best interests at heart,” Battle said,
Battle becomes the first Blue team player to commit to a school this year.
The Woodstock Academy Gold team already has four players committed with Cairo McCrory (UMass); David Jones (Sacramento State); Joe Moon (Bryant University) and Lawrence Foreman (Rider University) all having signed their National Letters of Intent.
“It’s been a long journey. Four years of high school, a post-grad year and now to have found a home at St. Michael’s is really huge for me,” Battle said.
Woodstock Academy prep head coach Jacque Rivera said Battle had offers from every school in the Northeast Conference.
“That’s impressive and he also had Division I interest but I thought Coach Eaton did a great job recruiting him and he found a fit. He’s just a great kid with an unbelievable family foundation,” Rivera said.
Gold Team Splits
The Woodstock Academy Gold team had some good and some not so good results last week.
A buzzer beater by Lee Academy lifted the hosts to a 75-72 win over the Centaurs Feb. 16.
Ronnie DeGray scored 24 for the Centaurs who slipped to 24-5 on the season.
The Woodstock Academy bench had some key players sitting on it in civvies earlier in the week.
For various reasons, Dyondre Dominguez, Quran McPherson, David Jones and DeGray were all unavailable for the Feb. 12 game against Redemption Christian Academy.
The Centaurs, however, persevered and handed the visitors a 70-59 loss.
“That’s the cool thing about having such a deep roster,” said Woodstock Academy coach Jacque Rivera said. “It was a collective effort. Everyone played over 10 minutes.”
An early 16-6 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Josh Davis and Cairo McCrory, put the Centaurs up by 12, 23-11.
Davis added a highlight-reel moment when he shot a 3-pointer from halfcourt just as the buzzer sounded and it found the basket to put the Centaurs up, 42-25.
Davis made 5-of-7 from the floor and led the Centaurs with 14 points.
They were smarting a bit, coming off a 77-71 loss to Patrick School the Sunday before.
“We were just trying to get things in motion again and it was a good team effort from beginning to end. Everyone played well and it was fun to see,” Davis said.
He was happy with the first half play when the Centaurs had 12 assists on 17 made field goals.
The Centaurs extended the lead to 20 points, 51-31, after a Davis basket with 16:52 to play.
“Then, I thought the ball got stuck a little bit, we dribbled a little too much, made some turnovers,” Rivera said. As a result, Redemption Christian made a little run and were able to cut the lead in half, 69-59, but did so with only 27 seconds left.
Woodstock Academy did feature a balanced attack with 11 players in the scoring column. Joe Moon had nine points and McCrory finished with eight
The regular season has only about two weeks remaining. The Power-5 Conference tournament is slated to begin on March 6.
Blue Has Winless Week
The week was even worse for the Woodstock Academy Blue prep basketball team.
It traveled to West Point, N.Y. to play a couple of games against some U.S. Military Academies.
Trevor Green was the only player in double figures for the Centaurs with 12 points as Air Force Prep handed the Blue squad a 79-61 defeat at West Point Feb. 15.
Paul Hosey, Amani Gottlieb, Vondre Chase and Darryl MacKey all added eight points for Woodstock Academy. Then Army Prep did the Centaurs in.
Woodstock Academy put a lot of points on the board, but fell short, 86-81, Feb. 16 to fall to 18-14 on the season.
MacKey finished with 27 points in the loss while Battle put down 22.
It was the third loss in a row for the Woodstock Academy Blue team which also lost at home Feb. 12.
The Centaurs looked like they were in control in the first half. But the persistence of Redemption Christian Academy won out in the second. The Centaurs fell, 61-59.
Woodstock Academy held a 52-45 lead with 9:45 left in the game following a Chase basket.
But the Centaurs offense went into hibernation, getting just one more bucket over the next seven minutes. Redemption Christian took advantage.
Battle (seven points) made a free throw and Elijah Blackman (11 points) broke the ice with a bucket for the Centaurs with 2:38 left to cut the lead to two, 59-57.
But Woodstock Academy missed three free throws and a 3-pointer which could have not only tied the game, but also gave them some cushion.
The Centaurs did get a MacKey (14 points) basket with 1:31 left to tie the game at 59.
But Redemption hit a layup with 1:09 left and it proved to the game winner.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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