By Jerry Holsworth - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

LEESBURG -- James Wood's girls basketball team got a painful lesson in what it's like to visit the defending Group AA state champions in their gym.

Loudoun County, despite the absence of last year's Group AA, Division 4 Player of the Year Kendra Holmes, converted 13 3-point shots to leave the Colonels in the dust 83-36 on Tuesday in the opening round of the Region II tournament.

"Hopefully this was a learning experience for our younger players," James Wood coach Rhonda Slider said. "We knew coming into the game that this was going to be really tough. I hope that our younger girls now know what it takes to compete on this level."

By Robert Stocks
The Winchester Star

STEPHENS CITY — The Sherando student section broke out with chants of — “Terry, Terry!” — on more than one occasion during Tuesday night’s Region II Division 4 quarterfinal game against James Wood.

The Warriors’ student section heaped praise on 6-foot-7 sophomore center Terry Wood at the end of both the first and second quarters, and it was a well-deserved gesture.

Wood made sure the Warriors wouldn’t have to overcome a 17-point deficit like they did in Saturday’s Northwestern District tournament final, carrying Sherando with a dominating performance in the paint.

Wood scored a game-high 27 points and had 19 rebounds as the Warriors won 66-57 in front of a near-capacity crowd at Sherando High School.

By David Selig
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — There’s something about facing James Wood that gets Sherando senior Phil Root particularly excited.

In football, Root had a key interception against the Colonels in this fall’s Region II Division 4 semifinals.

Saturday night, his steal and three-point play in the final minute lifted the Warriors to a 64-61 win over Wood in the Northwestern District basketball final.

Root will get yet another chance to face the cross-county rivals in a Region II Division 4 quarterfinal tonight at 7:45 — one of six regional quarterfinal games featuring local teams.

“I love playing James Wood,” Root said Saturday when asked about the rematch. “[I’m] very excited. We like that.”

In other regional action, Handley’s girls host William Monroe in a 6 p.m. Division 3 quarterfinal, which will be followed by another familiar matchup — the Judges’ boys against Skyline.

Clarke County’s boys face Central for a third time this season, hosting the Falcons in a Division 2 quarterfinal at 7 p.m.

Clarke’s girls play in a Division 2 quarterfinal Wednesday at Dan River, and James Wood’s girls travel to Loudoun County today for a 7 p.m. tip-off.

By Robert Niedzwiecki
The Winchester Star

SALEM — On a day that began with Gage Swartz screaming, it was his wordless actions at the end that spoke so much louder.

The James Wood High School senior kick-started a night in which three local wrestlers won Group AA state titles with a 6-2 win over two-time state champion Neal Kennedy of Blacksburg Saturday at the Salem Civic Center.

It took only a moment after the referee blew his final whistle for everyone in the arena to see how badly Swartz wanted that moment.

The emotion that came with years of hard work, including the two years of postseason agony that pushed Swartz even harder this year in pursuit of his first state title, was written all over his scrunched-up face as he pointed to his family in his crowd. No tears fell, but it would have been understandable if they did after the 196th and most meaningful victory of his career.

“This is the easily the best feeling I’ve ever had,” said Swartz, taking quick breaths and speaking slowly out of excitement a few minutes after his win. “I put so much into getting this. I’ve been training for four years to get this. To finally get it my senior year means so much to me.”

By David Selig
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Facing a 12-point deficit at halftime of Saturday night’s Northwestern District final, Sherando boys’ basketball coach Garland Williams said his goal was to cut the margin in half by the end of the third quarter.

Apparently he was selling his players short.

Sherando nailed its first seven shots of the third quarter — four of them from 3-point range — and just five minutes and five seconds into the period, the Warriors had scored 20 points and taken the lead.

Sherando then survived a heart-pounding, back-and-forth fourth quarter to defeat James Wood 64-61 at a packed Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium, securing the Warriors’ first district tournament title since 2002.

Franks steps up to help Wood advance to final

By David Selig
The Winchester Star

Winchester — As the James Wood High School boys’ basketball team returned to the locker room after Friday night’s first Northwestern District semifinal, junior Tyler Murphy climbed onto senior Cooper Franks’ shoulders.

Franks was certainly an unlikely choice to carry the Colonels into the district final, but he did just that late in the fourth quarter.

Franks went 8 for 8 from the free-throw line and scored all 10 of his points in the final period, as No. 4-seeded Wood upset top-seeded Handley 71-59 at Shirley Gymnasium.

“I can’t shoot. I honestly can’t shoot,” Franks said half-jokingly afterward. “I just really wanted to beat Handley. I’ve never beaten Handley when I’ve been here ... This is one of my dreams.”

By Robert Niedzwiecki
The Winchester Star

Salem — Robert Wallace could feel the pressure after watching two teammates, both regional champions, lose in the quarterfinals.

And he could feel the intensity of the roaring arena in his first trip to the Salem Civic Center.

But he also knew he was better than he was showing, and he had no intention of letting his championship dreams die Friday.

The Clarke County High School senior overcame a 7-0 second-period deficit by recording a third period pin in his 189-pound quarterfinal match, and as a result he’s one of eight area wrestlers who will compete in the championship semifinals of today’s Group AA and Group A state wrestling tournaments.

From Star Staff Reports

Norfolk — Handley High School senior Ben Grove advanced to the finals in a pair of events at the Group A/AA state swim meet at Old Dominion University Friday.

Grove finished first (51.12) in the preliminary heat in the 100 yard breaststroke and qualified third (1:58.6) in the 200 individual medley.

Grove, the defending state champ in the 100 breast, also helped Handley’s 200 medley relay qualify for today’s finals, teaming with Taylor Watts, Sam Stearns and Steven Amos to take 15th (1:46.48).

James Wood’s Kevin Carver also qualified in a pair of events. He came in sixth (22.6) in the 50 free and tied for 10th (51.12) in the 100 free.

Clarke County’s Kevin Broderick made the finals after taking fourth in the 100 breast (1:00.99).

James Wood’s Emalee Firestein advanced to the finals in both the 200 free and 500 free. Firestein came in 12th (2:01.34) in the 200 free and took 15th (5:31.13) in the 500 free.

Sherando’s Megan DeJong also advanced to today’s finals by finishing 14th (2:16.17) in the 200 I.M. DeJong will be an alternate in the 500 free after taking 17th (5:32.87).

Sherando’s 200 free relay team of DeJong, Marina Baker, Christina Lee and Alexis English came in 18th place (1:47.98) to make an alternate spot.

Other area swimmers finishing in the top 25 in the prelims included James Wood’s Kaye Whitacre (19th, 1:12.51) and Millbrook’s Katie Kozlowski (21st, 1:12.58) in the 100 breast, Millbrook’s Jacob Rector (23rd, 23.74) in the 50 free, Sherando’s Peter Restrepo (19th, 56.2) in the 100 fly, and Sherando’s 400 free relay team of Baker, DeJong, English and Nell Garver (20th, 4:02.36).

The top 16 from Friday’s prelims advance to today’s finals.