By Mitch Abramson
It took an 11th hour conversation from his coach Don Kent in September to convince him to stay and Friday night Wood reaped the rewards from that decision, scoring the 1,000th point of his career during a 70-64 win over St. John's Prep at home.Wood, who finished with 22 points, now has his sights set on rewriting the McClancy record books. Dennis McIntyre, a player from the 1960's is the all-time leading scorer with 1,200 points, and Wood needs 191 points to tie him.”Thank God he stayed,” said Kent whose team improved to 4-3 (1-2 CHSAA A South). “He's carrying the team.”Wood reached the milestone on a three-point play with 5:36 left in the third quarter with his team comfortably ahead 42-28 on a twisting, acrobatic layup as he was fouled. When he converted the free-throw, the game was stopped for a brief ceremony and the senior was given a basketball to commemorate the occasion.”It felt good, it was a rush,” said Wood, who has received interest from St. John's, Florida State and South Florida. “If I didn't get it today, I would have gotten it during the season. We still have 17 games left, so there wasn't any pressure on me to do it today. That lane opened up and I just put the ball in the basket. It was a great feeling. Now I can concentrate on the season and get back to work.”The whole undertaking had been taxing, he admitted. When the school newspaper, The Sentinel, devoted an entire page to his impending milestone before the season, Wood cringed at the attention. A right ankle sprain he committed in practice before the Christmas break didn't help matters, and the transit strike cancelled two games, setting him back even further. Still, Wood was a man on a mission, scoring 34 points in a game against Cathedral Prep on Dec. 7 and blocking out the pain of a sore ankle and the unwanted publicity. “I didn't like it,” he said of the attention. “It was kind of getting to my head.”Said St. John's Prep's coach, James Gatto, who won the CHSAA 'A' city title last year but has fallen on hard times with five new starters this season: “Wood reached the milestone basically playing on one leg.”After the ceremony, McClancy, still giddy from the celebration, slacked off and St. John's Prep (1-6, 0-1 CHSAA A South) came all the way back from a 19-point third quarter deficit to make it a one-point game in the fourth. Beating McClancy down the court for easy baskets, the Red Storm outscored the Crusaders 15-8 to end the third quarter, and cut the lead to five, 61-56 on a putback from Lionel Larquet with 3:23 left in the game. Determined to spoil the festive occasion, the Red Storms' James Reel (18 points) converted a three-point play and then stole an inbounds pass and was fouled. His two free-throws with 30 seconds remaining brought his team to within 65-64.McClancy was saved by senior point guard Perry Opong (24 points), a part-time starter from last year who scored five straight points to make it 70-64 with 13 seconds left.”He was the unsung hero of the game,” Kent said. “He bailed us out and had to step up his game tonight.”
