On the Sidelines with Dan Sousa - Wolverine Attacks in Ashburn!

On the Sidelines with Dan Sousa

Ashburn (Feb. 17, 2011) - Now here is some "upsetting" news: The Loudoun County Animal Control is cautioning Loudoun residents of a series of Wolverine attacks this week.

While this young group of Wolverines, travelling from the western half of the county, was thought relatively harmless heading to the Ashburn area this week, there was a confirmed surprise attack of Spartans at Broad Run High School on Valentine's Day and then last night a high-flying flock of Falcons were grounded at Briar Woods High School by the increasingly confident Wolverines.

The next Wolverine sighting should come Friday in Purcellville when a pack of Panthers are scheduled to step into the Wolverine den ...

OK ... OK ... I had to have a little fun after watching the Woodgrove High School boys basketball team, the No. 7 seed coming into the Dulles District tournament and just 1-8 since Jan. 22, exit the court Wednesday night with big smiles on their faces after a second straight stunning win -- this time 68-52 over No. 3 seed Briar Woods, just two days after a 69-67 shocker over No. 2 Broad Run, which was 19-3 on the season.

"It ranks with the best back-to-back wins Woodgrove has ever had," said Woodgrove coach Steve Douglas with a wry smile when asked to access the historic importance of this week's twin upsets in comparison with his tenure at Dominion where he led the once-struggling Titans program to a state quarterfinal appearance.

The first-year Wolverines have actually won three in a row this season but that came in the first half of the season when things were going well for the team with no seniors as Douglas guided them to a 6-4 start including wins over AAA schools Loudoun Valley and Heritage.

But then January set in and the Wolverines weren't improving in their second spin around the Dulles District schedule as teams they played to three points such as Park View, beat them by 14 the second time, or Briar Woods, which won by 11 in a first meeting and then 16 the second time. In fact, after the holiday break, Woodgrove's only wins came against winless first-year school Tuscarora and Douglass' former team, a struggling dominion squad.

"About two weeks ago I felt we hit a wall," said Douglas.


Having witnessed the Wolverines 59-46 at Loudoun County on Friday, their third defeat in four days, I had no inkling of their playoff run to come. That night, the Raider defense frustrated the Wolverines 6-foot-5 junior standout Brad Gilson and the rest of his teammates did not get into the flow of the game.

Fast forward a week and it is an entirely different group as Gilson scored a game-high 32 points Thursday with five 3-pointers -- to give him 59 points and nine 3-pointers in two playoff appearances -- but it wasn't a showy 32 points or the least bit forced as even Douglas was shocked after the game to learn that Gilson had scored that many.

The rest of the Woodgrove team was more than a supporting cast to Gilson but they were playing like a team and with confidence as junior Brendan Wells drove to the basket or just as easily connected on a pinpoint pass, junior Brett Danielson made some nice baseline moves and junior Matt Caslin showed that taking a charge can become a bruising art form as he leads what most be the nation with 32 charges taken on the season.

"It's like putting together a puzzle and until two or three games ago we hadn't found the right pieces or how to use those pieces," said Douglas. "Now things are starting to line-up, match-up and fall together in place."

From the moment Douglas had this group at team camp last summer he thought they could be a special bunch and Gilson has been a revelation, one of the top scorer's in the D.C. Metro Area, but come January these Wolverines were missing the X-factor ... cue the Smucker brothers.

Greg and Steve Smucker were twins that played for Douglas at Dominion and embodied his team concept. Like Gilson and Woodgrove, Dominion had a phenomenal scorer in DeAndre Albritton but the Titans didn't make their playoff run until Douglas got the team to play together as a unit with the Smucker brothers -- taking charges, making passes, playing defense and knocking down key shots -- leading the emotional way.

Douglas, who starred at Loudoun Valey High School under his father Scott Douglas who now is an assistant for his son, is basically living his dream job where he grew up and he wears his emotions on his sleeve ... just talking about the Smucker brothers and having them speak to his Woodgrove team about their experiences at Dominion, brought a crack into Douglas's voice.

It is the emotion of what was accomplished at Dominion, it is the emotion of what has been accomplished this week and the emotion of accomplishments to come ...

"This Woodgrove group is a smart group, they come and they are learning," said Douglas. "We were waiting for a signature win and now they are believing."

Woodgrove's next upset shot comes Friday at home against top-seeded Potomac Falls. The defending Division 4 state champion Panthers are 23-1 after an 80-53 win over Park View Wednesday.

The Patriots, led by junior Ryan McCarter (22 points), led 18-14 after the first quarter, but Potomac Falls went on a 21-0 to take complete control. Sparkplug Pete Simoneau keyed the run, scoring 10 of his 13 points during that stretch.

Lukas Mihailovich led the Panthers with 22 points and Greg Graves added 13.

Woodgrove'es hopes lie with the formula they used Wednesday -- shoot the lights out, play smart defense and protect the ball.

If college scouts were in the stands, they had to be super impressed with not only Gilson -- who shoots the 3-ball with a smooth stroke but also takes his lanky frame inside for key rebounds -- as well as Briar Woods junior Myles Tate who sank 3-pointers so far behind the arc that they should have been worth four points and showed once again why he is the architect of angles as he drives to the basket and can lay it in from any possible -- or impossible! -- angle off the glass.

The Wolverines led by a point at the half, 22-21, when Gilson warmed up and sank four 3-pointers in the third. Tate had an NBA-range 3-pointer and a circus layin but the Wolverines were getting the most out of their starting line-up with Caslin taking it to the hole for a transition layin, Wells using the dribble-drive to score and Danielson working the left side for two points. Woodgrove ended the quarter on a high note as Caslin scored off a pass from Wells that made this old Magic Johnson fan smile.

Up 44-34, Caslin (14 points) made a tough shot off the glass for a 12-point lead early but the Falcons, despite mounting foul problems, would not go away as not only Tate was dropping 3-pointers but Corey Faciane hit a pair.

Faciane's trey with 1:16 to go cut the lead to seven points, 57-50, but Woodgrove handled the ball well and forced Briar Woods to foul and while the Falcons student section tried to heckle the Wolverines into missing, the Woodgrove's players weren't paying attention as they calmly made just about every foul shot they took -- 26 of 28 led by Gilson's 15 of 16 performance.

Girls Title Game
As big as the Woodgrove vs. Potomac Falls championship game Friday at 8 p.m. will be, it might not even be the "main event" of the night as the area's recent powerhouses -- Freedom and Loudoun County -- meet yet again in the Dulles District finals for a fourth consecutive year.

The two teams split in the regular season with Freedom winning at home in December, 52-33, but Loudoun County winning at home in January, 55-40.

We expect the title game on Friday at 6 p.m. to be much closer, more in line with the past title games that saw Loudoun County win in 2008 on a buzzer beater, 48-47, Freedom edged County in 2009, 61-57, in a season where both teams won state titles (Freedom in Division 3 and County in Division 4) and then last year County won, 69-58, but fell in the regional semifinals as Freedom, moving up a division, captured a second straight state title.

On Wednesdy, neither team had trouble making the finals as Freedom beat Potomac Falls, 61-30, and County handled Briar Woods, 74-51.