South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Wolverines finally shake off rust
Wellington surges in 2nd half for win
Wellington entered Friday’s game against Village Academy having played only one game since Dec. 18, and the Wolverines were still getting back into the swing of things .
“We’re just coming out of a COVID shutdown where we were out for 10 days, and you could see the rust on us,” Wellington coach Matt Colin said.
Village Academy took advantage of Wellington’s struggles early, building a lead that it took into halftime.
But the Wolverines (6-0) came out of the locker room for the second half and turned it on, pulling ahead to beat the Tigers (0-2) 79-71 in Wellington.
“It shows how we can persevere, come down from a deficit and really lock in as a team and pull out a ‘W’ like that,” senior Chris Walker said.
Village Academy, playing with only seven players, got ahead against Wellington’s struggling defense in the first half. Village Academy held a lead that stretched to as much as 11 points shortly before halftime.
“I didn’t think we were defending very well,” Colin said. “We were standing up when we were guarding [and] were letting guys just blow right by us.
“We gave up a ton of straightline layups, and you can’t do that to any team. And then offensively, I thought we were very selfish.”
The Wolverines looked like a new team in the second half, though. They outscored the Tigers 25-11 in the third quarter and 44-28 in the second half as a whole.
Walker, a Little Rock commit who scored only five points in the first half, came alive in the third quarter. He scored 13 points in those eight minutes, including 10 during a 15-3 run by Wellington.
“I think Chris struggled in the beginning, and he was trying to make it happen really fast, really early, instead of allowing the game to come to him,” Colin said.
“I think at halftime he adjusted, and that’s a compliment to him as a player.”
Thompson Auguste led Village Academy with 14 points. Senior guard Jordan Johnson led Wellington with 23 points, impressing his coach with not just his scoring but with his energy.
“I thought Jordan was great because Jordan’s effort was all over the place,” Colin said. “Not only scoring, but he rebounded the ball, he was flying all over the place. He was just a straight effort guy.”