The Woodlands holds off Oak Ridge

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – The cold weather forced The Woodlands High School boys’ basketball team to adjust their schedule this week and they responded, snowing under Oak Ridge 73-51 at home in a rare Saturday afternoon District 14-5A game.

The Highlanders jumped out to a 15-6 lead early and held a 40-19 advantage at halftime.

Defensively, first half, outstanding,” Highlanders coach Dale Reed said. “We did a great job of guarding and moving to spots, helping out and blocking out and rebounding. We did a great job on the boards.”

But the War Eagles (18-10, 6-4) heated up in the second half, closing to within 13 points. Terrell Lawrence shoveled through the Highlanders defense to spark the charge. He led all scorers with 21 points.

“The third quarter to part of the fourth quarter our defense let up a little bit and Oak Ridge started hitting some shots and made it tougher on us,” Reed said. “So I was a little frustrated with that but then we responded well and finished the game strong.”

The Highlanders piled on an avalanche of points in the fourth quarter to win going away. Full-court pressure from The Woodlands late in the game produced positive results and things just snow-balled from there.

“Overall it was an outstanding performance,” Reed said. “But we’re really focused on just trying to get better.”

Wes Cole scored 16 points and Joey Trinkle added 12 more for The Woodlands.

It was a crazy week for the No. 23 state-ranked Highlanders (26-3, 9-0), who played on Wednesday and Saturday, rather than the usual Tuesday/Friday schedule.

“Our guys really responded well to that,” Reed said. “It was different but our guys have done a great job of being resilient and responding with whatever is required. Our guys, all year, have been that way.”