Springfield, Vt.
Woodstock opened the season with three straight wins, then hit a major bump in the road with three straight defeats as the Wasps lost their shooting eye.
“We continue to have shooting issues,” Woodstock coach Joel Carey said, “but what we needed most was a win, and we got it.”
The route to the victory was down the lane, where Caleb Webb had a big night with 18 points, as Springfield had no one who could match up with him and Brendan Schwartz (11 points).
“We have good height,” said Carey, who would also like to see some outside shooting to add to the attack.
“Some of the guys are continuing to struggle, and we’re trying to get their confidence back in the gym,” Carey added. “It’s not that we can’t shoot; we have good shooters. It’ll come around.”
While the game finished as a sizable Woodstock win, there were moments when Springfield (0-5) gave evidence that it came to play.
Even though Woodstock never trailed, there were a couple of occasions when Springfield put itself in a position to make a run.
The first opportunity came in the second quarter, when the Cosmos went on a 9-2 spurt and got back in the game at 26-20. The Cosmos staggered a bit through the rest of the period, but still were in hailing distance at the half (36-26).
Springfield kept hanging around at 38-31 with 4:42 to go in the third period before the Wasps got a Webb putback and short jumpers from Emilio Montano and Charlie Amato to cruise to a 45-33 lead after three quarters.
“Learning how to win is a tough,” said Springfield coach Mike Ruppel, who is trying to build something without many building blocks.
“I’m happy with where we are,” Ruppel said. “We’re not very big, and we have to work for every basket. You know, even though we did not get a lot of points, we were getting good shots. The kids kept working and that’s all I could ask.”
Springfield got a big game out of senior guard Caleb Hunter, who had a 17-point effort that included a couple of 3-pointers. Teammate Dakota Bushey added 11 points.