By: Garrett Mitchell, Staff Writer | garrett@thewoodrufftimes.com
For 35 years, the gym at Woodruff High School has witnessed many amazing sports moments.
On Monday, December 22, the Woodruff boys’ basketball team closed the final chapter with a heart-stopping finale.
With sports transitioning to the new Woodruff High starting in January, Monday’s contest against the Greenville Hurricanes is the last game scheduled to be played in the Wolverines’ old home for the last three and a half decades. It ended with Woodruff’s thrilling 73-72 victory.
As Dre Jenkins rejected the Hurricanes’ lay-up attempt with two seconds to play, and Grayson Patterson snatched the rebound and threw the ball skyward as time expired, it was a fitting conclusion to the end of an era.
“We do this for the crowd,” said Patterson.“ They really keep us in the game. Whenever we are down and need some energy, the crowd picks us up. We have made a lot of memories in this gym, and we are going to do our best to carry that over into the new gym.”
For much of the night, it appeared that for every step Woodruff took, the Greenville Hurricanes were two more ahead. Trailing 29-13 at the end of the first quarter, the Wolverines looked dead in the water, but a second-quarter rally seemed to turn the tide.
The Wolverines outscored the Hurricanes 19-7 in the period, spurred by two three-pointers from Zac Ramey and the relentless attack on the basket by Jenkins, and Woodruff went into halftime down only 36-32.
Both sides traded blows in the third, with the Wolverines staying at arm’s reach but unable to take control as they started the fourth quarter down 55-53. The final period, a curtain call, nearly ended without an encore.
Woodruff exploded in the period, using a lightning-fast 14-1 run to take a commanding 67-56 lead with under four minutes to play. Patterson and Jackson McCarley drained three-pointers during the run, Jenkins continued getting to the basket for easy layups off the dribble, and a stifling defense forced many Hurricane turnovers.
All seemed settled until it wasn’t.
The Hurricanes rallied furiously in the final two minutes, cashing in several Woodruff turnovers, knocking down several threes of their own, and converting from the free-throw line. After another crushing turnover with nine seconds to play, the Hurricanes had the ball on their end of the court and a chance to break the Wolverines’ hearts.
Jenkins turned the final page of a storybook ending.
“We called it like it was,” said Woodruff head coach Bryan McConnell.“ They put up 29 points in the first quarter. I told the guys not to look at the scoreboard. This may be the last time you play here, and it’s got to mean something. We felt like how we came out in the second quarter got them going a little bit, and our bench was huge. We got a lot of good minutes from different guys. It took a total team effort.”
Woodruff had many unsung heroes in the game. Ramey, thrust into a starting role after a career as a reserve, finished with nine points. Addison Davis, a revelation at guard for the Wolverines, scored five points along with five rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
“Addison Davis coming off the bench was huge,” continued McConnell.“ He made a lot of good decisions. He did a lot of little things that we needed. He really helped us.”
Jenkins led all scorers with 24, and Patterson poured in 16 points and 10 rebounds.
“We just had to find who had the hot hand,” Patterson explained.“ We brought the game back, and we won. We have been around each other a long time, playing football together, and we have a brotherhood. It is like a family for us, and it translates to the court.”
Woodruff (4-5) will play in its new gym, which still carries the smell of fresh varnish on the newly shined court, and will tip off a new era of Wolverine basketball on January 2 against Blacksburg.
The final game in their longtime home, though, was one that will be remembered by those who experienced it.
“You want to win no matter what, but sometimes there’s a little bit more meaning, and this game was one of those times,” added McConnell.
