Wooddale protects home court, defeats Ridgeway, 75-65

<p>Wes Henning has beaten Keelon Lawson in the previous three meetings they have coached against one another.</p> <p>The third time wasn’t a charm, but what about the fourth time?</p> <p>Lawson knew Ridgeway would be a tough task for his team, but solid performances from Chandler and <strong>Johnathan Lawson</strong> put Wooddale over the top in the end. Chandler Lawson finished with a game-high 30 points and 14 rebounds, Johnathan Lawson added 25 and 12 boards, and the Cardinals defeated the Roadrunners, 75-65, Monday night to improve to 10-2 of the season.</p> <p>Ridgeway (5-4) threw different defensive schemes at Wooddale because of the size it had in the frontcourt. That didn’t seem to work as the Lawson brothers were able to get to the basket to either score or draw a foul.</p> <p>Even though the Cardinals had stacked talent in the frontcourt, the Roadrunners weren’t going to allow their opponent to bully them. Ridgeway trailed 32-22 after <strong>Chandler Lawson</strong> knocked down a 3 from the top of the key that was followed by two foul shots from Johnathan Lawson.</p> <p>But, shooting guard Jordan Jackson drained 2 3s to bring the Roadrunners within 36-30 at the break.</p> <p>Point guard <strong>Travis Dockery</strong> scored Ridgeway’s final four points of the third quarter to give the Roadrunners their first lead (48-47) since the early minutes of the second quarter.</p> <p>“I knew coach Henning was going to have his guys come in and play hard,” coach Lawson said. “It was a good game for us to get ready for conference play. So, I knew it wasn’t going to be a cake walk. I knew it was going to be a battle.”</p> <p>The Lawson brothers took over in the fourth quarter by getting to the free throw line. Jonathan Lawson made two foul shots to tie the game 53-all, then Chandler Lawson scored four straight points for the 57-56 lead.</p> <p>Kendall Thomas made two foul shots to put Ridgeway in front 58-57, then knocked down a corner 3 for the 61-59 lead after Johnathan Duncan gave his team a one point lead off a score in transition. It had seemed as if Henning would beat coach Lawson for the fourth time, but Wooddale took control for good off a 3 from Duncan. Point guard Kevin Brown made a 3 on the Cardinals’ next possession for a four-point lead.</p> <p>Chandler Lawson made 11 of 14 shots from the free throw line. Johnathan Lawson went 9 for 12. That was the difference maker.</p> <p>“It was important, because we lost to Raleigh-Egypt by missing free throws,” coach Lawson said about the clutch shots made from the line. “If we would have made two free throws against Raleigh-Egypt, we would have won by one. That’s all we have been practicing on every since that game.”</p> <p>Dockery led the Roadrunners with 16 points. <strong>Will Wilson</strong> added 15 points.</p> <p><strong>3 takeaways</strong></p> <ul> <li>Ridgeway had nice looks at the basket, but couldn’t get the outside shots to fall. Some of the guards missed wide open layups that came back to bite them in the end.</li> <li>If it wasn’t for the free throw shooting, Wooddale could have lost against the Roadrunners. Practicing on free throw shooting after the lost to the Pharaohs paid off Monday night.</li> <li>Ridgeway has come a long way since its season-opening loss to Bartlett. The guard play has improved, which was a blur to start the season. Dockery is a bright spot for the Roadrunners.</li> </ul>