Wakefield boys basketball
Keith Armstrong (42) scored 12 points and dropped in the winning bucket as time expired in Wakefield's 47-45 victory over Clayton Wednesday, Nov. 18.
Armstrong's last-second shot seals Wakefield win
Wolverines knock of Clayton on opening night
Following Keith Armstrong's last-second lay-up to seal the Wakefield boys basketball team's 47-45 win over Clayton Wednesday night, head coach Pat Kennedy explained what got the Wolverines' game-winning play in motion.
And it probably isn't what you think.
After a timeout, Jake Lenox inbounded the ball to point guard Dominique McDonald with 14 seconds remaining. As McDonald pushed the ball up-court, Lenox, who raced down court, flashed to the top of the key. McDonald proceeded to dribble toward the corner, driving the Comet defense out, setting up Armstrong in the paint for the easy lay-in.
"We had that (play) the whole second half," Kennedy reasoned. "But Dominique is so good with the ball, sometimes guys stand around and watch him. During the timeout, we were able to organize ourselves and have Jake flash middle, which opened up a driving line for Dominique, and he made the right bounce pass and Keith finished the way he was supposed to finish.
"It was great."
Click here for highlights of the game, including Keith Armstrong's game-winner.
Besides putting the finishing touches on the opening-night win, Armstrong scored a team-high 12 points. Maurice Nash and Xavier Saddler-Mee added eight apiece, and McDonald and Lenox had six, respectively.
Lenox made his biggest impact, however, on the boards and on defense.
The junior pulled down 11 rebounds, and defended Clayton's top scorer, Adam Parrish, late.
He finished with a game-high 14 points, but just three in the fourth quarter.
"Jake is the glue to our team," Kennedy said. "He does all the things that people don't usually notice — he boxes out, makes great passes ... and he really doesn't turn the ball over.
"We have some other guys who can do some pretty amazing things for us, but not too many guys do all the stat things and intangible things like Jake can."
While the Wolverines had a picture-perfect final play, their first half wasn't much to look at — and that was the case for both teams, really.
The Comets and Wolverines came out sluggish off the start, combining to score just 13 points in the opening quarter.
After Armstrong and Saddler-Mee dropped in lay-ups early in the quarter, Wakefield went scoreless for more than five minutes until Lenox hit two free-throws. However, Clayton couldn't capitalize on Wakefield's shooting woes, and held a slim 7-6 advantage at the end of the quarter.
Wakefield trailed through much of the second period, though Nash's breakaway dunk midway through the session brought the home crowd alive.
It was Nash's first bucket in more than a year after sitting out all over last season following knee surgery.
Nash again gave the Wolverines' another emotional lift, nailing a three-pointer in the closing seconds of the half, giving Wakefield a 17-16 advantage headed into the locker room.
"We weren't shooting the ball well, and I know we can shoot better than that," Kennedy said of the Wolverines' poor first-half shooting."
The coach explained for his squad to be more effective offensively, his guards need to look into the post more, and his post players need to want the ball more.
Overall, Kennedy liked his squad's performance, especially McDonald's effort leading the offense. Having transferred back to Wakefield this season, the junior showed no ill-effects to learning a new scheme and system in just three weeks.
A relative scoring spree ensued in the third quarter as the team's combined for 24 points and another 35 in the fourth.
While Wakefield held a narrow two-bucket lead in the fourth, the advantage was never comfortable.
And the outcome didn't look good as Wakefield turned the ball over on consecutive possessions before its final play, but the Wolverines prevailed anyway.
Just one game into the season, Wakefield proved it knows how to finish.
