Jamaica resident becomes scoring king of McClancy

Frustrated over the defections of two fellow seniors, McClancy’s Stephen Wood thought about transferring to Cardozo, but instead of acting on impulse, he chose to deal with the situation. Wood remained at the Corona school, and now he’s savoring the decision.
Wood became the school’s all-time scorer Friday evening, surpassing McClancy Hall of Famer Dennis McIntyre, class of ‘69, with 33 points in his final home game. McIntyre’s record was 1200; Wood now sits at 1,247 after scoring 27 points in a 68-57 win Sunday over Cardinal Spellman. “It feels really good,” Wood said, “knowing that I’m the highest scorer in school history.”
On a lay-up during the Crusaders’ 81-57 victory over St. Edmund’s Prep, Wood made history. The game was immediately stopped to present the Jamaica native with the ball, which would later be inscribed with the number of points, the date and opponent on it. Wood gave the ball to his mother, Debra Wood, in attendance with his two younger brothers, Sidney, 9, and Shamira, 6.
“Having my mother there meant a lot,” said Wood, a Jamaica resident. “She works a lot so she doesn’t come to most of my games.” As an MTA bus driver, this was just Debra Wood’s third time watching her son play this season. “She said, ‘thanks, and keep up the good work.’ She was proud of me.”
The 6-foot-3, 175-pound sharp-shooting forward was more of a defensive specialist when he joined the varsity as a sophomore. But he came on late that season, scoring 20 points in a playoff loss to Christ the King. He finished the year averaging 11 points per game. As a junior, he excelled, scoring 21.9, and finishing with 549 points that season.
So when this year began, Wood’s career total stood at 839 and the record remained a possibility. “When I got to 1,000 points,” he said, “I started to think about it.”
Nonetheless, his senior season wasn’t going as planned. The Crusaders were 5-9 at one point and in danger of falling into the cellar in the CHSAA ‘A’ South. But Wood, fighting a sore ankle all year, and the Crusaders (13-10, 9-6 CHSAA A South) have seen their fortunes completely reversed. They’ve won eight of their last nine, and as the season comes to a close are all alone in second place.
“I didn’t want to end my senior year with a losing record,” said Wood, who is being actively recruited by Division I schools St. John’s, Florida State, South Florida, UTEP and George Mason. “I spoke to a couple of seniors on the side. I was like ‘we got to step it up.’ ”
As their play improved, Wood closed in on the mark until Friday night when he made history in yet another victory. “That’s one of the reasons I wanted to stay here,” he said. “I wanted to break the record and get 1,000 points. Just to finish my senior year where I started [is great].”