Wakefield boys basketball
Wakefield's Xavier Saddler-Mee (right) races to the hoop following a steal in the second half of Thursday's win over Sanderson. In the background, teammate Dominique McDonald can be seen cheering Saddler-Mee on.
Saddler-Mee, Wolverines knock off Sanderson in Cap-7 opener
His coach's explanation at halftime made sense to junior Xavier Saddler-Mee during the Wakefield boys basketball team's 64-49 victory over Sanderson Thursday night.
Trailing the Spartans 29-27 at the break, Wolverine head coach Pat Kennedy implored his squad to fight harder, and expend more energy than they showed in a somewhat lethargic first half of their Cap-7 Conference opener.
"Coach told us that if we wanted to win, we have to pick it up and it starts with defense," Saddler-Mee recalled. "And I put it on myself to try and lock down their best player, play him tight and try to deny him the ball, and I was able to get a couple steals. It seemed like they just threw it to me."
In fact, in one 30-second period — stretching from the end of the third and into the fourth quarter — the guard singlehandedly dashed the Spartans' spirits.
With 20 seconds left in the third, Saddler-Mee nailed a trey, putting the Wolverines up seven, 43-36. He then retreated on defense, picking off a slow pass and cashed in a lay-in as the quarter ended. On the Spartans' opening possession of fourth, Saddler-Mee stole another pass for another uncontested bucket — a seemingly identical play to just a moment earlier.
Seven points in 30 seconds, and the game was clearly now in the Wolverines' control.
"I thought our spark was without a doubt was Xavier," Kennedy said.
Click here for highlights of the Wakefield/Sanderson boys basketball game.
While forward Keith Armstrong put up 21 points and 10 rebounds, and clearly put the Wolverines on his back at points, Saddler-Mee powered Wakefield's crucial second-half run, which ended the Sanderson threat.
(Not that Armstrong should be overlooked. The senior has become a nightly double-double threat — hanging 25 points and 13 boards on East Wake just 24 hours before the Sanderson contest. And as Kennedy understandably reasoned "You can't complain about a guy who is giving us a double-double every night.")
Saddler-Mee scored all 14 of his points in the second half, displaying a combination of offense and defense not often seen, Kennedy said.
"You are always going to get effort from Xavier," Kennedy said. "You don't find a lot of guys who are great defensive players, but also really strong offensive players. And that's Xavier.
Against Clayton, he took one of their best scorers and shut him out. Took one of East Wake's best scorers and held him to single digits. And everyone say what he did tonight."
Not to be outdone, Saddler-Mee's backcourt mate, Dominique McDonald was a ballhawk Thursday as well, recording seven steals. He added eight points.
What Kennedy liked were Saddler-Mee and McDonald didn't just create turnovers, but turned defensive stops into points.
"A lot of steals that Dominique and Xavier were getting were 'live ball,' so then they transitioned into easy baskets. And that kills teams," he said. "It's one thing to turn it over, it's another to get that live ball turnover, and now you can't defend."
Sanderson head coach Mike Shaw said it wasn't so much Sanderson playing poorly, but Wakefield just stepping its game up in the second half.
"In the third quarter, they just came at us," he explained. "I don't feel like we came out flat or anything. They just started doing what they do well. And we just couldn't catch up with them."
Which is ironic because early on it was Wakefield which looked to be falling behind as Sanderson Kevin Black came out hitting from all over the floor.
Sanderson's Kevin Black (right) cuts to the basket as Wakefield's Keith Armstrong gives chase.
On the strength of his 12-point first quarter, which included two treys, Black helped the Spartans capture a 18-11 advantage. Unfortunately for Sanderson, the hot shooting didn't continue and Black scored just three points the rest of the night.
Shaw reasoned the Spartans fast start from the outside may have had a negative affect on the team's overall offensive performance.
"It might have been a little bit of fool's gold — we might have relied on it too much after that, especially late," the coach said. "We went away from our strength, which is playing inside."
Chris Carter scored 16 points in the defeat to lead the Spartans. Matt James added seven.
Although the Spartans drop to 5-2 this season, the good news is ... they're 5-2, which is a vast improvement over last year's win total (six).
Sanderson visits Cary Monday, Dec. 14, and returns home to host Millbrook Friday, Dec. 18.
Wakefield (7-1) also plays Millbrook next week, visiting the Wildcats Tuesday, Dec. 15. The Wolverines continue on the road at Leesville Road Friday, Dec. 18.
"To start off the conference schedule with a win is huge," Saddler-Mee said. "Millbrook's next, and they are a pretty good team, so it's good to get this first one."
