CHAPEL HILL — Sometimes, all it takes is a little practice.
Allen Iverson might not care to talk about it, but Taij Cotten doesn’t shy away.
The Woods Charter Wolves earned their first win of the season last Thursday night after defeating the Southern Wake Academy Lions in a close one, 57-51. After the game, Cotten — the Wolves’ head coach — credited the success to the team’s recent practices.
“They’ve really dug down and we figured out what our issues were, and last night, that was probably one of the best practices I’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Cotten. “And I always say, ‘Take a good practice and let it turn over into a good game.’”
The Wolves, now sitting at 1-4 on the season, had lost the two previous contests — road games versus Chatham Charter (now 10-0) and Southern Wake (2-8) — by a combined total of 70 points.
After their first game against Southern Wake, the Wolves’ loss pushed them to a 0-4 record and a point differential of -124 in just four games.
Instead of giving up and falling into a deeper hole, Woods Charter looked at its rematch with Southern Wake just three days later as an opportunity to prove itself; a test in resilience. And the team passed with flying colors.
“We played them Monday, they beat us by 20 and we left that game with a salty taste in our mouths,” said Cotten. “Tonight, you could just feel the good energy from everybody on the court all the way down to the end of the bench.”
That energy was felt, most notably, from two Wolves players in particular: junior center Nate Crump and senior forward Kyle Howarth.
Crump never quit on a play. If a ball was in the air from a missed basket — whether it was shot by him, his teammates or his Lions opponents — he was fighting for it. And there’s a good chance he’d come down with it.
“I have a killer mindset because I’m trying to get rebounds, be physical,” said Crump after the win. “If (my teammates) didn’t make layups, I had to have their back, getting the board and putting it back up. As a team, we work together.”
A play that defined Crump’s dependability came halfway through the second quarter with Woods Charter down 20-19, with the Wolves pushing the ball down the floor after a missed Lions three-pointer.
Howarth took it to the basket against three defenders and just narrowly missed a layup, but Crump came down the lane seemingly at full speed and floated into the air as he tipped the ball in to give his team a one-point advantage with about four minutes left in the half.
Crump ended the night with 28 points and 10 rebounds. For a player who’s nearly averaged a double-double this season, this game somehow felt like his coming-out party.
“He didn’t have as good of a game (in the first one against Southern Wake) as he did tonight, and I think that resonated with him,” said Cotten. “He went home, studied the game, watched the film and figured out what he needed to figure out, then came out here and got the job done. I’m super proud.”
Howarth’s performance (20 points) shouldn’t go unnoticed. There were plenty of times it looked like the Wolves were in trouble on offense, but in the blink of an eye, he would find a closing lane to drive through, hit a gorgeous reverse layup, then keep it moving.
Crump and Howarth contributed 25 of the Wolves’ 31 first-half points as Woods Charter held a six-point lead at the midway point.
To begin both the first and third quarters, the Wolves allowed Southern Wake junior guard Isaiah Robertson (29 points) to walk all over them.
He scored the first nine points of the game for the Lions, then after the half, scored the first five of the third quarter to put his team within one of Woods Charter, 31-30. It looked like the momentum was starting to swing — and it wasn’t in the Wolves’ favor.
However, both times Robertson went on scoring barrages, the Wolves adjusted, closed off the middle and contained him. In both situations, he didn’t score again for the remainder of the quarter.
Woods Charter would never trail after the one-point deficit in the second quarter.
Each time the game would get close, Howarth would take it to the hoop, Crump would fight for a rebound and a put-back, senior guard Jeffrey Syper would hit a much-needed three-pointer or one of the other Wolves would make a play in the right place, at the right time, putting them back in the driver’s seat.
While Crump and Howarth may have combined for 48 of the team’s 57 points, what made Woods Charter’s first victory special is that it was truly a team effort.
If junior guard Emi Hutter-Demarco wasn’t able to make a play offensively, she would help lock the Lions’ guards down on defense the next time down the floor, as was the case for most of her teammates.
“I try and keep myself composed and just remind myself that I need to stay in the mental state that we’re going to win,” said Hutter-Demarco. “It’s important to stay focused and not panic.”
Even at the end of the game, when Robertson drilled two three-pointers in the final 1:03, the Wolves were able to break the Lions’ full-court press and score with ease, turning what should have been a nail-biter into an authoritative win.
This Woods Charter team looked entirely different from the one that was decimated by Chatham Charter’s half-court press on Jan. 30 and handled by Southern Wake three days earlier.
Cotten chalks it all up to practice.
“We had a good week of practice. We should’ve went 2-0 this week, we realized that and we took Monday and we broke it down,” said Cotten. “They’re starting to trust in each other and knew that they had to come in and get the job done. We really needed this win.”
Reporter Victor Hensley can be reached at vhensley@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @Frezeal33.