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Game Stories, GHSA, GHSA Basketball

Woodstock punches first-ever ticket to state with win over Etowah

Woodstock 61, Etowah 47

Founded in 1996 just a minute away from Towne Lake rival Etowah which opened its doors 20 years prior, Woodstock has played a second fiddle to the Eagles for 20 years now in boys basketball, never clinching a state playoff berth. The Wolverines have shuffled through coaches over the years going from Sean Glaze to Brady Richeson to Darrin Clark and now to Head Coach Kingston Clark, a well-traveled veteran who has seen success at some of the most unlikely schools. Standing in he and his team’s way of the school’s first ever state playoff appearance stood the Eagles.

After defeating Etowah 62-58 and 63-45 in the regular season, the Wolverines were tasked with beating their bitter rival for a third time and they did, earning a 61-47 victory and seeing the court fill with red-clad fans as Woodstock advanced to the Region 5-AAAAAA semifinals and the state playoffs on Etowah’s home court.

Adrian Cohen gave the Eagles a quick 2-0 lead, but from there on out it was all Wolverines in the second quarter. Woodstock drilled three of their nine three-pointers in the first quarter led by two from Marcus Foo and one from leading scorer Tyreke Johnson to open up a 13-0 run and finish the quarter up 14-4.

Etowah came out tight and couldn’t buy a basket while Coach Clark’s patient offense swung the ball around the perimeter until Coach Don Hurlburt’s zone couldn’t keep rotating.

Woodstock led 19-9 before the Eagles showed signs of life, cutting the lead to 19-15 after five points from Rodriquez Lobbins. Heading into the half the Eagles’ 8-2 run shrank the deficit to 21-17.

In the second half senior Zack Wallace and Johnson began to lengthen the lead as the Wolverines saw blood in the water and went in for the kill. Foo found Wallace for three to push the lead to 28-18 with 4:52 to play in the third. A minute later, Brant Hurter tipped out a missed shot to Dominic Hewitt, who whipped the ball to Wallace for another three, making it 31-20. Johnson scored five of his game-high 20 in the frame to make it a 37-28 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Eight minutes away from a date with destiny, the Wolverines who had come up short so many times before, were not about to let history slip through their fingers. Again, it was Wallace with back-to-back daggers from behind the arc to give Woodstock its largest lead of the game at 45-30 with 5:44 remaining.

Etowah never threatened after Wallace’s marksmanship and Johnson iced the game from the line along with Hewitt combining to shoot 10-of-12 in the fourth quarter.

Following 19 years of despair, year number 20 – Kingston Clark’s first – proved to provide the magic.

“It started back in April when I got the phone call from Coach [Tonya] Sebring for the interview,” explained Clark on how the school history making season began. “I knew right then and there we had to get the ball rolling and start working. Honestly, I didn’t anticipate getting into the state playoffs the first year but I definitely will take it.

“The kids bought into what I was trying to instill into them and really and truly, they just fought throughout the season and worked hard throughout the season. This is a well-deserved victory. This is my first year but I feel the pain of the 19 years of not making it.”

From Pierce County to Lowndes County to Cross Keys, Clark took a roundabout way to make it to Cherokee County.

“I came up here a couple years ago. My wife wanted to come to the big city. I’m a country boy, born and raised. I had no ambition of coming up here to Metro Atlanta but when I finally did, I felt like I had done a tremendous job throughout my years, had some success, so I wanted to get that opportunity.

“When I got the call from Woodstock to be honest with you, I didn’t think I would be their man, but by the grace of God, they saw something in me and chose me as their candidate and I am proud to be a Wolverine.”

Top Performers

Woodstock
Tyreke Johnson – 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
Zack Wallace – 13 points, 3 rebounds
Brant Hurter – 12 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist
Marcus Foo – 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Dominic Hewitt – 5 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal

Etowah
Rodriquez Lobbins – 13 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist
Daniel Hogue – 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal