Wood leads Sacred Heart

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: February 22, 2016

Sensational sophomore scores 43 points, grabs 22 rebounds as Sacred Heart overwhelms Winterboro 96-54 in NE Regional final

Diante Wood was all over the place for Sacred Heart on Monday. He scored 43 points and grabbed 22 rebounds as the Cardinals won the Class 1A Northeast Regional. Below, Sam Miller (R) and the Cardinals come out for their prize. (Photo by Kristen Stringer/Krisp Pics Photography)

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

JACKSONVILLE – Here is all you need to know about Sacred Heart’s 96-54 Northeast Regional title-clinching victory over Winterboro:

With more than a quarter and a half to play in the game it was Diante Wood 37, Winterboro 30.

Wood, Sacred Heart’s sensational sophomore who was a fabulous freshman last year, scored 43 points and grabbed 22 rebounds Monday as the top-ranked Cardinals swamped Winterboro to earn their third straight trip to the Class 1A Final Four.

They will play the winner of Tuesday’s Keith-Cornerstone Central Regional title game Monday at 1:30 p.m.

“Diante played at a really high level today,” Cardinals coach Ralph Graves said “From the stat sheet he really dominated, but you can’t say enough about how resilient he was, how smart he played. He showed a lot of his versatility as far as skill. I just thought he played extremely well.”

Wood filled up the box score. The regional tournament MVP was 17 of 26 from the floor and also had three assists and four steals. For the longest time he had outscored the Winterboro team.

“I didn’t notice that until I came out and they told me,” he said. “That means I guess I’m better than everybody on their team.”

On most nights he’s better than a lot of the players he’s playing against. And when the rest of the Cardinals get going, they’re darned near impossible to stop, especially among team in their classification.

Somebody held up a sign in the crowd that read, “We gave up losing for Lent” (Catholics’ pre-Easter season). It happened a long time before that.

Wood was the biggest of the many weapons the Cardinals (27-8) unleashed on the Bulldogs (19-11). Kevin Nolan had 15 points, D.J. Heath had 12 and Stephen Stansil had 10. Even reserve Caleb Lafollette drew a big cheer for the 3-pointer he hit with 15 seconds left in the game.

“We just play off each other,” Nolan said.

Wood had more than half Sacred Heart’s points and as many as Winterboro for the second time in the game with 3:59 left in the first half, when it was 34-18. He had one fewer point than the Bulldogs at halftime. The 37-30 scenario came with 4:26 left in the third quarter and the Cardinals leading 68-30.

When the 6-foot-5 post (for now) came out with 48 seconds left in the third quarter, he had outscored the Bulldogs by four. When he finally retired early in the fourth quarter, briefly taking a seat in the coach’s chair, he had more than half the Cardinals’ points and two fewer than the Bulldogs.

By then, there was no doubt the Cardinals were going back to Birmingham.

“To go (to the Final Four) three consecutive years, you have some teams who don’t ever get to go at all,” Graves said. “For us to go three times straight says a lot about our program here at Sacred Heart and how committed our kids are to playing at that level.”

Sacred Heart 96, Winterboro 54

WINTERBORO (19-11) – Quinton Hale 3-9 2-3 9, Khalil Keith 3-7 1-2 7, Leon Estelle 4-5 2-2 10, Marcus McMeans 1-3 0-1 2, D’onte Graham 6-20 4-6 16, Nyjavion Brown 1-2 0-0 2, Clay Twymon 0-0 0-2 0, Joshua Fluker 0-0 0-1 0, Alexander McGhee 2-11 0-0 5, Darvionce Jordan 1-3 0-0 3, Justus Garrett 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-61 9-17 54.

SACRED HEART (27-8) – Diante Wood 17-26 9-13 43, Kavarri Ross 3-8 0-0 6, Samuel Miller 1-4 1-2 3, D.J. Heath 4-11 3-8 12, Kevion Nolan 6-17 0-1 15, Murdock Simmons 2-4 0-0 4, Caleb Lafollette 1-4 0-0 3, Stephen Stansil 4-5 0-0 10, Jon Riley Miller 0-3 0-0 0, Jaylin Croft 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 38-84 13-24 96.

Winterboro 14 10 16 14 — 54
Sacred Heart 21 29 29 17 — 96

3-point goals: Winterboro 3-12 (Hale 1-2, Esetelle 0-1, McGhee 1-5, Jordan 1-3, Garrett 0-1); Sacred Heart 7-20 (Wood 0-1, Ross 0-3, Heath 1-2, Nolan 3-7, Lafollette 1-3, Stansil 2-2, Croft 0-2). Rebounds: Winterboro 48 (Graham 9, Keith 8); Sacred Heart 51 (Wood 22, Heath 8). Total fouls: Winterboro 17, Sacred Heart 21.