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Wood catches fire late, McClancy blows out Ford

By Dylan Butler

Despite playing less than 12 hours earlier, McClancy took over the game in the fourth quarter and went on a decisive 16-0 run – including 11 straight points from Wood – in a 53-33 league win.”I wanted to prove a point that we should have had that game and let them know that it's not going to happen again,” Wood said. “We had to take them out of the game.”Wood, whose nickname is “Sticks,” was bleary eyed – as were many in attendance – for the 10 a.m. tip-off, but the junior erupted after Bishop Ford got within 35-29 at the start of the fourth quarter.”Playing the early game it took me a while, but it still shouldn't affect my game though,” said Wood, a relatively unknown commodity in the CHSAA. “I should have come out stronger from the jump.”Wood first sent in a dunk-off a Ford turnover and then, after Dexter DeJesus scored on a layup, the junior guard nailed three straight 3-pointers and added a putback to give McClancy (14-5, 10-3 CHSAA A) an insurmountable 51-29 lead.”He gets into the groove. It uplifts the team and the team rallied with him,” McClancy coach Don Kent said of Wood, who leads the CHSAA 'A' division with 23.3 points per game. “The fact that he makes the shot, the defense gets more intense and the kids get more pumped up. He went into that zone and got the hot hand at the right time.”Terrance Howard added nine points and 10 rebounds and DeJesus had eight points and five boards for McClancy. Bishop Ford was led by Jakaria Thomas, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds.Bloomfield Tech 62, Cardozo 56. After taking a step forward following a big win over Xaverian and playing St. Raymond's close in a pair of non-league games, Cardozo took a step backward at the Tom Crotty Memorial Classic at St. John's Sunday afternoon.Cardozo (16-5) was still without Theo Davis, who remains academically ineligible, and had three players return late from the school's senior trip. As a result the Judges came out flat and trailed 34-19 at the half.Led by Vic Morris, who had 23 points despite recovering from flu-like symptoms, Cardozo got within 38-33 midway through the second half. But Bloomfield, which had three players score in double figures, went on an 11-0 run to take a 49-38 lead.A 3-pointer by Drew Gladstone (12 points) cut Cardozo's deficit to 59-56 with 40.2 seconds left in regulation but the Judges couldn't overcome its early deficit.”You can't really wait for every team to get up on us before we make our comeback,” Gladstone said.Bloomfield was led by Marquise Moore, who had 21 points – 13-for-16 from the foul line, DaSean Butler had 17 points and 14 rebounds and John Cavaness added 12.Reach Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.