Wakefield boys basketball
Wakefield guard Donald McDonald (white jersey) slips past two Knightdale defenders for two of his 11 points Friday night.
Knights run rampant over Wakefield
Following Friday night's 74-61 loss to Knightdale, the Wakefield boys basketball team can point to at least three different occasions when the contest's momentum clearly shifted away from the Wolverines.
First, when the Knights' Ronnie Frederick dropped in consecutive three-pointers as well as a lay-in — plus a foul — to open the second quarter.
For Wakefield head coach Pat Kennedy, his personal (un)favorite was the moment after the Wolverines' Keith Armstrong was called for goaltending in the second quarter. The coach wasn't arguing the call, but the fact that if Wakefield had scored during the possession, the game would have been tied with three minutes left in the first half. Instead, the Knights closed out the second quarter leading 28-22.
And thirdly, during a three-minute scoring blitz during the third quarter, Wakefield dropped in 11 points. The only problem was Knightdale scored 13 during the span.
"Give Knightdale all the credit," said Kennedy, following the loss — Wakefield's (5-1) first defeat of the season. "They penetrated at will. Got to the rim and finished. Plus, they made their free throws down the stretch. They did a really nice job.
"They needed to make it that type of game — up and down game — and they did."
Tyler Nicholson led the Knightdale attack, scoring a game-high 25 points, and dropping 12 during a fast-paced third quarter.
Click here for highlights of Wakefield/Knightdale match-up.
The Knights essentially put the dagger in the Wolverines in the third, scoring 29 points.
Kennedy conceded the uptempo style after halftime isn't the Wolverines' preferred style of play, but "once we got down, we had to play like that."
"And Knightdale did a great job of answering us every time. If they hit a three, we'd hit a three, and then they'd score again," the coach said. "We're swapping baskets, and we weren't making stops."
After Wakefield cruised to an early first-quarter lead, jumping out 15-6 — Maurice Nash and Keith Armstrong led the way tallying a combined 13 points — Kennedy said the Wolverines lost their defensive intensity and didn't take care of the ball.
It proved to be a deadly combination. Knightdale also switched out of man-to-man defense to a zone, but Kennedy believed the Wolverines' self-inflicted miscues were a bigger culprit.
"Our defense eased up, and their team and their fans started believing they could get back in the game," he said.
The Knights might have been also fueled by the fact Wakefield throttled them 68-43 just two weeks before.
"They didn't like how we beat them in their gym, so they came back and did it at our gym," reasoned Kennedy. "When someone scores 74 points in your gym, you shouldn't win."
Wakefield senior Keith Armstrong (42) jumps out of bounds to save the ball Friday night.
With Knightdale pressing the game's tempo, the Knights garnered a lot of their offense off transition buckets, including wide-open lay-ups.
"Turnovers are one thing, but uncontested lay-ins or lay-ins in the paint are a whole different animal," Kennedy shrugged. "They penetrated. They got the shots that they wanted, and that was key. And their effort was better than ours."
In the loss, Nash scored 12 points, Dominique McDonald and Xavier Saddler-Mee added 11 each and Nigel King had 10.
For the Knights, Ronnie Frederick added 16 points and Aaron Smith finished with 11.
The Wolverines enter a tough stretch next week, visiting Clayton Monday, Dec. 7, and hosting East Wake Wednesday, Dec. 9, and Sanderson, Thursday, Dec. 10.
The Wolverines narrowly defeated the Comets 47-45 on opening night, needing an Armstrong lay-in in the closing seconds to win. And Wakefield' match-up with the Spartans kicks off the Cap-7 Conference regular season.
"There's no doubt that next week is one of our toughest weeks," Kennedy said.
