Mason’s Cameron Arminio grabs a rebound in front of Winton Woods’ Stefaun Briggins.
Jeff Wallner reports:
Winton Woods’ boys basketball team entered Wednesday’s game at Mason having lost five of its past six games. Warriors coach Donnie Gillespie challenged his players to begin the new year on a positive note; they responded in a big way.
Trent Donald scored 26 points and Kwan Cheatham added 10 points as Winton Woods rolled to a 63-44 victory over the Comets.
“We made a lot of progress (tonight),” said Donald. “We wanted to put last year behind us. It’s a new year.”
- Photos: Mason vs. Winton Woods
Senior guard Connor McVey led Mason with 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Bryan King had nine points and one 3-pointer.
Both Mason and Winton Woods had endured four-game losing streaks this season, and entered Wednesday night’s contest having dropped a combined nine of 11 games.
McVey, who shoots better than 41 percent from 3-point range, hit a 3-pointer for Mason’s first field goal. But consecutive baskets by Donald put Winton Woods ahead 10-3.
Cheatham, a University of Akron commit, had a tip-in off a missed free throw to make the score 14-5. He later followed his own miss to give the Warriors a 20-11 lead in the second quarter.
Moments after missing a one-handed dunk attempt, Cheatham scored on a turnaround jumper to give Winton Woods its largest lead, 22-11.
The Warriors’ run reached 12-0 before McVey hit consecutive 3-pointers, making the score 28-17. He went 3 for 5 from 3-point range and had a team-leading 11 points in the first half.
Winton Woods forced seven turnovers in the first half.
After losing the rebounding battle in the first half, Winton Woods ended up out-rebounding the Comets 37-22. The Warriors forced 10 turnovers and had six steals.
“We showed some resilience,” said Gillespie. “We’re not worried about our record. This time of year it’s just about getting better. We just needed to find our rhythm.”
Winton Woods 14 16 19 14 –63
Mason 7 12 9 16 –44
Winton Woods (4-6) – Rousseau 1 0 3, Donald 11 4 26, Cheatham 5 0 10, Goodson 2 0 6, Tidwell 2 1 5, Jones 1 0 2, Dees 3 0 6, Briggins 3 0 6. Totals: 27 6 63.
Mason (3-6) – McVey 6 0 16, Matula 0 1 1, King 3 2 9, Arminio 1 0 2, Brinkmann 3 2 8, Beebe 2 0 4, Cline 1 2 4. Totals: 16 7 44.
3-pointers: W 2 (Rousseau, Goodson, Tidwell), M 5 (McVey 4, King).
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