Woodberry Forest bests STAB in regular season finale

The Woodberry Forest boys basketball team finished up its regular season on a high note, as the Tigers defeated St. Anne’s-Belfield, 55-48, Friday night.

Woodberry Forest coach Joel Justus came into the game relying on his team’s versatility and experience.

“We want to play to our strengths. I think our depth and experience allows us to go as the game goes. We try to be aggressive early and feel the other team out,” Justus said. “We do have a good group of kids that are pretty versatile, so we can use guys at different times and in different ways.”

After a slow start with only two points on the board, Woodberry Forest put together its first of several runs at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers went on an 18-3 run that included four 3-pointers and led St. Anne’s 20-8 heading into the second quarter.

St. Anne’s responded well by switching to man defense. The Saints also started hitting from behind the arc as well. Brett Johnson drained a 3 at the buzzer, but St. Anne’s still trailed 29-23 heading into the half.

The Saints continued to chip away at the Tigers’ lead in the start of the second half. After Aaron Stinnie was fouled on a made shot and hit the consecutive free throw, Johnson hit a short jumper with just over five minutes remaining in the third to give St. Anne’s a 30-29 advantage, its first lead since the opening minutes.

Both teams traded buckets to end the third quarter, but the fourth quarter belonged to Woodberry Forest’s Jack Flournoy. Flournoy, who finished with 23 and led all scorers, put up 12 of his team’s 17 fourth-quarter points. With 1:54 remaining and a two-point Tigers lead, Flournoy threw down a dunk, was fouled on a steal, and hit a set of free throws to give Woodberry a 50-44 lead.

“Somebody has to step up and score when the time comes,” Flournoy said. “I had nice passes and screens from my teammates; they got me open, so I had some easy opportunities to score.”

The Saints were quiet during the waning minutes of the final period, but the Tigers helped themselves by hitting seven of their final eight foul shots.

Caid Kirven chipped in with 10 points for Woodberry Forest.

Despite the loss, St. Anne’s coach Brian Kent saw positives in his team’s play.

“The second half was basketball we want to play. We played hard. I think we got rebounds, we got loose balls,” Kent said. “I want them to play tough, play smart, take good shots, and get stops on the other end defensively. I think we did that in the second half.”

Johnson finished with 14 for St. Anne’s. Jeff Jones added 14, with Stinnie contributing 11.

This game served as a good preview for Tuesday night, as St. Anne’s will travel to Woodberry Forest for the opening round of the Virginia Prep League tournament. Both teams will be well prepared for the rematch.

“We’ll have to come with the same intensity that we did,” Flournoy said.

Added Kent: “I think we have a little more of the edge now. We’ve lost two to them, this one being very close. I think this is going to give us some motivation going in on Tuesday.”