The Woodlawn Prep Wolfpack, who took down Wilkinson County Christian Academy 59-44 to clinch a perfect regular season district record, carried a 13-game winning streak into the Class 2A South State Tournament, which started Tuesday with a win over Union Christian Academy at Riverdale Academy.
Not only did their Feb. 1 victory clinch a perfect district record this season, but it also marks the third season in a row that the Wolfpack have flawlessly traversed their district slate. Since the Wolfpack’s starting five – Drayson Patterson, Cole Sinclair, Ethan Bullock, Jack Carney and Braylon Reed – began varsity play, the Wolfpack haven’t lost against a regional rival.
“This junior class that we have is a special group,” Woodlawn Prep head coach Cliff East said. “For three years straight to have an unblemished (record), it’s quite the accomplishment, and I’m proud of them. (I) just continue to look forward to what the future holds with that group. It’s definitely a very, very special group, and I think they realize that what they’ve accomplished over the last three years, being able to do that, is not something to take for granted.”
The Wolfpack made the five-hour trip to Red River Parish, LA., to take on Union Christian Academy – a team Woodlawn is very familiar with – in the opener of the Class 2A South State Tournament Tuesday, winning 64-35. When these two squads met in the Final Four last season, it was the Lions who came out on top, defeating the Wolfpack on a layup preceded by a heave across the court in overtime in the third-place game. It’s a game that the members of the Wolfpack remember all too well.
“This first game for us, it’s an opportunity for payback,” East said. “It’s also an opportunity to position us to play on Friday and Saturday and hopefully have a good seed going into next week’s 2A tournament. They lost some players from last year’s team, but I still think it’ll be a difficult first round matchup here in South state.
“I reminded them of the fact that when the season ended against Union last year, they all collectively said, ‘Hey, our goal is to be back for next year, but not just to be here and participate. We want to win state.’ So I reminded them of that goal, and it’ll also reinforce the idea that we can’t be looking at the final game at this point. We’ve got to take it one possession, one quarter at a time and one game at a time. If we do that, I like our chances moving forward.”
With Tuesday's win win, the Wolfpack travel back to Riverdale Academy for a semifinal matchup Friday at 6:30 p.m. against Briarfield Academy, with the championship game and consolation game taking place Saturday.
