WS Chronicle

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY

THE CHRONICLE

After riding a win streak of almost 20 games, the boys from Carter G. Woodson finally lost in the Conference championship game.  Having to quickly expel that from their minds, they rolled past their first two opponents in the state tournament.  Next up was the Fighting Pharaoh’s of Quality Education Academy in the third round.

With a trip to the state final four at stake, the Eagles ratcheted up the defense in the second half to overwhelm the Pharaoh’s.  The boys from QEA fought hard throughout but could not survive the onslaught from the Eagle offense down the stretch. They lost 58-41.

Eagle Head Coach Josh Pittman says he was happy for the victory but knows his team has to tighten up the screws going forward in the tournament.  He says as the competition gets tougher, his team will have to continue to play this well.

“Honestly I thought we played one of the best games we have played this year,” Pittman said.  “They started off being in the game because I knew they were going to be excited to play because we have already beaten them three times this year.  But we were focused, we played defense and when we got the lead we held on to it and played smart.”

Going forward Pittman says he has high hopes for his team in the final four of the state tournament.  He thinks if they stay together they can accomplish their goal of winning it all.

Pittman continued by saying, “I expect us to play our brand of ball.  I told them before the game if we play our basketball, which is team basketball, defense and getting the ball to the right person in the right spot we will be fine.  I don’t care who we play as long as we do what we do and do it well we have a chance to win.”

Jordan Brown, Eagle head coach, said because his team was very inexperienced making it this far into the tournament was great for his team.  He says the experience they garnered from this game will serve them well going forward in their careers.

“We fought hard but just had too many mental mistakes but that can all be cleaned up because we have such a young group of guys,” Brown said.  “I think a couple of defensive breakdowns and they got a couple momentum plays that got the crowd into it got us a little rattled.  Other than that they made shots and we didn’t.”

“We have a ‘don’t quit’ attitude and its ‘never say die’ with us.  If there is still time on the clock then we are going to play hard and that’s our motto.  Some nights the shots go in and some nights they don’t but as long as we fight until the buzzer goes off we will be OK.”

Pittman thinks his guys have what it takes to win their final two games and bring home the championship.  He says defense and spreading the ball around will bode well for his team.

“We know we have an uphill battle potentially facing off against two tough teams, Pittman added.  “We are trying to come home with a ring and do something for the first time at this school that has never been done before. We are putting the school on the map, but I like the fact they feel like they aren’t finished and hopefully with that attitude, we can keep going.”