Woodhaven at Saline: 5 Takeaways
On Friday night, Woodhaven traveled to Saline for an early season test. Recap Trevor Arico (2020, G) began the scoring with 2 free throws. Brandon Wilkinson (2022, F) led an 8-0 run for Woodhaven by hitting 2 mid range jumpers. Arico kept Saline in…
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Continue ReadingOn Friday night, Woodhaven traveled to Saline for an early season test.
Recap
Trevor Arico (2020, G) began the scoring with 2 free throws. Brandon Wilkinson (2022, F) led an 8-0 run for Woodhaven by hitting 2 mid range jumpers. Arico kept Saline in the game by scoring all 12 of their 1st quarter points. At the end of 1, Woodhaven led 16-12.
Griffin Yaklich (2020, G) aggressively attacked the rim for Saline, but Woodhaven did a nice job filling the lane and forcing a kick out. Wilkinson continued to lead the way for Woodhaven by being agressive offensively, grabbing boards, and even getting an assist with a pretty dish to Jordan Barbee (2021, F). Woodhaven led 26-20 at the half.
For Saline, the 3rd quarter was the Trevor Arico show. He kept the Hornets in the game by hitting three 3 pointers en route to a 13 point quarter. Barbee and Wilkinson continued to lead the Woodhaven charge and attack the basket. They combined for 10 3rd quarter points.
Woodhaven held their 6 point lead and headed into the 4th quarter with a 40-34 advantage. Saline battled back with stingy defense 5 straight free throws. Arico buried another triple to tie the game at 45 with just a few minutes to play. With under 2 minutes to go, Yaklich created a turnover and finished in transition to give Saline its first lead since 2-0. Then Jaden Pickett (2021, G) stroked a corner 3 to give the Hornets a 50-47 lead. Joey Henegar (2021, F) battled for a tough rebound and hit a mid range jumper to tie the game at 50 for Woodhaven. Saline ran the clock to 8.8 seconds and called a timeout. They missed a jumper, but Saline’s Tyler Belskus (2020, F) was fouled with .4 seconds on the clock. He missed the front end a 1 and 1 and the game headed into OT, tied at 50. Balanced scoring by Arico, Belskus, Yaklich, Ferrari, and Caldwell sealed the win for Saline. The final score was 59-54 in favor of the Hornets.
5 Takeaways
Saline will need Yaklich and Belskus to crash the glass.
Yaklich is 6’5″ and Belskus is 6’4″, but neither are typical post players. Yaklich is a combo guard and Belskus is more of a stretch 4. However, being the biggest 2 in the starting 5, Saline will need them to pull down a lot of rebounds.
Joey Henegar is a very valuable player off the bench for Woodhaven.
This young man is pure hustle and grit. He’s willing to battle every second on the floor and it really gives his team a boost when he enters the game. Henegar even sprints to the bench when he comes out.
Trevor Arico is a must see unsigned prospect.
He was absolutely phenomenal against Woodhaven. He hit 6 triples en route to a 33 point night. When Arico gets hot this season, it’ll be worth the price of admission.
The future could be bright for a young Woodhaven squad.
The young core of Elisha Warren (2022, G), Wilkinson, Barbee, Henegar, and Travis Jordan (2021, F) certainly showed a lot of potential. They have a chance to do some special things over the next 2 years.
If Saline finds a consistent 3rd scoring threat: Watch out.
I thought it would be Cooper Fairman after a stellar summer and fall, but an injury has forced him out. Belskus seems to be in line for that role.