Reliable depth in the backcourt makes Wooddale more dangerous than ever before
Wooddale has had the advantage over most teams this season with Chandler and Johnathan Lawson in the frontcourt. A bulk of the responsibility has been on the brothers to lead an inexperienced group to a deep postseason run. The burden…
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Continue ReadingWooddale has had the advantage over most teams this season with Chandler and Johnathan Lawson in the frontcourt. A bulk of the responsibility has been on the brothers to lead an inexperienced group to a deep postseason run.
The burden is still there, but their responsibility may not be as heavy as it once was, thanks to a backcourt that has the depth it needs to win a state championship. In the first half of the season, the Cardinals had just 5-foot-4 point guard Kevin Brown sprinting his way in and out of double teams, while scoring in traffic.
Midway through the 2018 season, Wooddale received junior point guard Alvin Miles, who transferred from Whitehaven High School. Miles, at 5-7, is much bigger and stronger than Brown, and he’s also more experienced in the postseason. The Cardinals also have sophomore combo guard Avionne Suttle, who played at MBA last season.
Suttle, 6-0, was part of Thursday night’s 72-53 beat down over Mitchell, and spectators had a chance to see the depth of Wooddale’s backcourt. Miles started the game by knocking two 3s within the first three minutes of the first quarter. Miles’ biggest highlight of the game came in the early minutes of the third quarter when he got a steal from the right wing, then zipped a bounce pass to Chandler, 6-8, for the one-handed slam. That was part of a 12-0 run to give the Cardinals the 50-28 lead.
Brown scored on back-to-back transition layups early in the second quarter that were part of a 7-0 run, and Suttle added six points in the second half.
Brown led the team with 21 points and recorded four steals. Miles added 13.
Wooddale’s three productive guards from Thursday night have eased the pressure off of the Lawson brothers. The Cardinals made eights 3s in the win, with Miles and Brown converting on six of those 3-pointers.
Thanks to that, Chandler had a light, but productive night, finishing with 10 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks, and two steals. Johnathan, 6-6, added 15 points and six steals.
This group hasn’t been playing together very long, and it’s dangerous for other teams to see how comfortable all of them look out on the floor playing alongside one another. Wooddale has two other nice weapons in guards Johnathan Duncan and Tekeavion Rounds, two players who have proven in the past that they’re capable of giving something on offense.
The addition of Suttle and Miles gives head coach Keelon Lawson the flexibility he needs to spread the floor, forcing teams to play more man-to-man defense, rather than double team his two sons. The Tigers started out playing zone early in the game, trying to take away the paint, but Wooddale has added more outside shooting in Miles, who quickly made Mitchell realize the zone defense wasn’t going to work.
As for Brown, he’s hard to stay in front of, and he’s very alert on both ends of the floor. Suttle is very athletic and showed spurts of that when he quickly sprinted back on defense. As for Chandler, the Tigers couldn’t keep him off the glass, no matter how many bodies were under the rim with him.
Most likely, fans of the Cardinals are expecting this year’s team to make a deep postseason run, and when you have two brothers, who won a state championship last season at a Memphis East, on a roster that’s being coached by their father, who coached the two oldest brothers to a state championship in 2015, that should be expected.
Wooddale will play the winner of Raleigh-Egypt and Hamilton in the District 16-AA Championship game Saturday night.
Thursday night at Frayser High School should have been eye-opening enough to make the non-Cardinals fans realize that Wooddale is coming, whether they like it or not.