Regardless of the sport, the Gar-Field versus Woodbridge rivalry is one that attracts fans in droves. Although it's been only two weeks since the start of basketball season, athletes and fans alike treat this rivalry as if it's a playoff game with championship contention on the line, and in Friday night's game on the Indians home court emotions ran high.
“Everybody was telling me that they were talking trash,” said Gar-Field junior guard Curtis Lovitt. “So I was just thinking, 'They're coming into our house, this is my night to shine, and this how we gonna do it!'”
Through the first three games of the season, Lovitt's efforts combined for 32 total points, but against the Vikings he scored 23 points—19 of which occurred in the first half—and led the Indians to a 62-34 victory. The Vikings, whose defensive strength is man-to-man, failed to contain Lovitt in any phase of the game be it transition offense, rebounding, or perimeter shooting; Lovitt made three 3-pointers on the night.
“They were trying to stay in front of me and slide their feet,” said Lovitt. “But I just did what the coaches told me: 'Make one move and go. Don't be doing all this extra dribbling.'”
Woodbridge's offense never found traction either, but Gar-Field head coach Andy Gray remained modest in his assessment of the game and said he couldn't attest to whether it was because of his team's defense or the Vikings' lack of offense. Woodbridge's highest scoring quarter was a 12-point fourth; they were held to nine points in both the first and second quarters, and scored four points in the third.
Perhaps the Vikings' atrocious night can be attributed to playing from a handicapped position without star shooter Mikal Boykin. Boykin has 31 points in three games—18 of which were scored against Montrose Christian, the number one ranked team in the metro area. He was suspended from play because of a violation of team rules.
“We're not going to sit here and make excuses,” said Vikings first year coach Brian Hooker. “We feel like we can compete with whoever we put out there. We did not execute one thing offensively tonight and they did a good job of taking us out of what we wanted to do, so give credit to Gar-Field for that.”
A light at the end of the tunnel for Woodbridge might have been their fourth-quarter defense which held Gar-Field to 10 points. The Vikings started the quarter with full-court pressure and maintained the intensity until the buzzer sounded. The Indians turned the ball over several times and only scored two field goals; the other six points were scored from the free-throw line.
“Believe it or not we were supposed to do a lot of that early in the game,” added Hooker. “But we didn't pick up full-court man-to-man, we allowed them to walk up the court, and we didn't apply that pressure like we worked on in practice. It was a little disappointing.”
Dating back to last season, Gar-Field has now won eight straight regular season games and their next opponent is defending Cardinal District champions, Potomac (2-0).
“We're not worried about a streak,” said Gray. “We have two days to prepare, but we'll give them all we got. They're very good, very quick, and they're very deep. We'll have our hands full, so preparation for them is what we're worried about.”
Gar-Field stats
Curtis Lovitt - 23 points, Marcus Knight - 13 points, Dave Bailey - 6 points.
Woodbridge stats
Kenny McKnight - 11 points, Trey Jones - 7 points, Hanok Zeraye - 5 points.
Women's Basketball
The Lady Indians (1-2) won their first game of the season against Woodbridge on Friday, 61-51.
Lady Indians stats
Shehkinah Stewart – 14 points. Naihla Rose-delia and Kianna Vivanco – 13 points each.
Lady Vikings stats
PJ Jordan – 17 points. Maegan Mikkelsen – 9 points. Kayla Brown and Castina Johnson – 8 points each.
