Charleston boys basketball team makes early lead hold to beat Woodland for district championship

It looked like the top-seeded Charleston boys basketball team's pressure defense would complicate things quite quickly for second-seeded Woodland in the Class 3 District title game at Scott City High School on Friday night.

Woodland turned the ball over on eight of its first 14 possessions as the Bluejays built up a 13-point lead over the first five minutes.

The Cardinals never caved but still faced a 13-point deficit with 2 minutes, 45 seconds left against the perennially-strong Charleston when they turned the tables and created chaos for the Bluejays.

Charleston stumbled briefly, but recovered to secure a 71-62 win and the district championship.

"A lot of kids would've gave up. I thought we were going to break their spirits," Charleston coach Danny Farmer said. "That's what we wanted to do -- break their spirits. We didn't do it, but we did come out pretty good."

The Bluejays jumped out to a 19-6 lead in the first five minutes of the contest, but Woodland finished answered with a 10-2 spurt to cut it to 21-16 heading into the second quarter.

Charleston, which was just 25 of 59 from the field on the night, held a 38-28 advantage at halftime after forcing 15 Woodland turnovers in the first half.

"I think the biggest challenge was the pressure, especially early," Woodland senior guard Garret Reynolds said. "They kind of got up on us, and we kind of got frightened with the ball. But we ended up doing pretty good with the ball pressure and coming back and fighting in this game."

Woodland's Garret Reynolds looks to pass as Charleston's Delfincko Bogan defends during the third quarter of the championship game in the Class 3 District 2 tournament Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 in Scott City, Missouri. (Fred Lynch)

The Cardinals cut it to 40-34 with 5:20 left in the third quarter on a layup by junior guard Cole Schlief, but threw the ball out of bounds on their next possession. Charleston freshman guard Demarcus Sharp then hit his first of two 3s in the quarter to extend the lead to nine.

The Bluejays led by as many as 15 in the third, and were up 55-42 going into the final eight minutes.

"All we really needed to do was just slow it down and be patient, and then that pressure's kind of false pressure," Schlief said. "They create turnovers, but that turnover's on you making the wrong play. They're not really looking to steal it, they're just looking to make you make the wrong play. That's pretty much what happened."

The Cardinals faced a 17-point deficit with 3:20 left after consecutive baskets for Sharp, who finished with 20 points to lead Charleston.

At the 2:45 mark, senior guard Evan Grindstaff scored on a fastbreak to cut it to 63-50 and after a steal by Schlief 18 seconds later, Reynolds knocked down a 3 to cut it to 10 and force Farmer to take a timeout.

"We didn't need to turn the ball over. We had to play smarter and not turn the ball over," Farmer said of his late-game message. "That's the key: not turning the ball over and to make them panic. Just take our time. Take our time, run our offense and make them panic."

The Bluejays turned it over twice more following the timeout, which led to a foul and a couple of made free throws for Reynolds.

Schlief came up with a steal, was fouled and sank both free throws in a one-and-one with 58 seconds left to cut it to seven.

After Sharp missed the front-end of a one-and-one, Reynolds was fouled and kept Woodland perfect from the line on the night at 14 of 14, which made it 64-59 with 39.5 to play.

Charleston coach Danny Farmer reacts to a call in the fourth quarter of the championship game with Woodland in the Class 3 District 2 tournament Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 in Scott City, Missouri. (Fred Lynch)

"We ended up having them on their heels at least a couple times, so we just felt like maybe we could get some traps, maybe pressure them a little bit and get some turnovers," Schlief said.

The Cardinals turned it over on each of its final three possessions and were forced to foul. Sharp and senior guard Delfincko Bogan combined for 7 of 8 from the charity stripe in the final 38 seconds to seal the victory.

"It was a tough win. Woodland -- they came out and played with their hearts in it," Bogan said. "We knew coming into the game that it wasn't going to be easy even without their second-best player Zach [Beel]."

Without the 6-foot-6 junior forward Zach Beel, who was out with a broken wrist, Charleston focused most of its efforts on slowing down Reynolds.

Reynolds finished with 20 points to lead Woodland after putting up 41 in the Cardinals' semifinal victory.

Schlief added 19 points and Grindstaff had 17 for Woodland.

"We wanted to contain him, make it difficult for him," Farmer said of Reynolds. "He's a kid with a lot of a lot of heart. A lot of heart. He never quit until the end. I thought we did a good job on him. We wanted the other kids to beat us if anybody beat us. We didn't want Garret to just score 41, you know?"

Bogan and sophomore forward Marquavion McCauley finished with 13 points apiece while junior guard Dontarius Sharp had 11.

Woodland's Landon Johnson drives to the basket against Charleston during the third quarter of the championship game in the Class 3 District 2 tournament Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 in Scott City, Missouri. (Fred Lynch)

"It was kind of an ugly game," Farmer said. "We wanted to play a little bit better, but we did enough to win. In the postseason you have ugly games. We played a great, inspired team."

Charleston will face Class 3 District 1 winner New Madrid County Central in a state sectional game on Wednesday.

Woodland's season ended with a record of 21-8 in Logan Nutt's first year at the helm.

"Our guys have proven that they have a lot of heart, and from Day 1 I've asked for 100 percent effort and attitude, and they give it," Nutt said. "Tonight and last night they proved that they're hard working, they're focused and they're good. It was good to see them not give up ever, when we easily could've. When Big Zach went down we could've given up. But those guys didn't, and I'm extremely proud of them for that."

Woodland 16 12 14 20 -- 62

Charleston 21 17 17 16 -- 71

WOODLAND (62) -- Garret Reynolds 20, Cole Schlief 19, Evan Grindstaff 17, Landon Johnson 4, Tyler Womack 2. FG 20, FT 14-14, F 22. (3-pointers: Grindstaff 3, Reynolds 2, Schlief 1. Fouled out: Grindstaff, Reynolds.)

CHARLESTON (71) -- DeMarcus Sharp 20, Delfincko Bogan 13, Marquavion McCauley 13, Dontarius Sharp 11, Tenerrious Ewing 8, Mardareyon Clark 6. FG 25, FT 17-29, F 17. (3-pointers: De. Sharp 3, Do. Sharp 1. Fouled out: none.)