by Andrew Wasik ’13

From left, seniors Charlie Rogers, Jourdain McCants and Scott Bolen pose for their admirers during practice. The big three are excited to be back preparing for the upcoming season. photo by Paul Szewczyk '12

Seniors Scott Bolen, Jourdain McCants and Charlie Rogers are the Warriors’ three returning leading scorers from last season but the question this season is how they will match up against arch rival Magruder’s own big three and the always stellar Springbrook. In Magruder’s case, last year the teams split the season series 1-1 but Magruder’s leading scorer, senior Garland Owens, is back. Springbrook beat the injury-stricken Warriors in the playoffs last year by a score of 69-55 But this year Springbrook will be playing without Enario Jones, the second leading scorer in the county last year.

“We are back this year more prepared to take on all these teams. I feel that we are going to have a great season,” said Bolen.

The Warriors have been putting in a lot of work over the offseason to be more prepared for the coming season. “I feel we’re going to do really well this year. Scott, Charlie and I have been working extremely hard this offseason working out and going to tournaments to face the best talent all over the country,” said McCants.

“As a team we’ve improved immensely, mostly due to our great work ethic and team chemistry,” added Rogers.

After a 13-12 season last year after forfeiting the first five wins due to an ineligible player, Sherwood is now considered one of the elite teams in the county along with Magruder, Springbrook and Churchill.

“I believe it’s a disadvantage to our team because teams are going to give their best now. We will have to practice hard to give our best,” said Rogers. “We’re going to have to put in a lot of work but I think we’ll ultimately be able to handle these teams.”

Quite possibly the biggest match-up of the season will be Sherwood versus rival Magruder when it will be the battle of the big threes. Returning Colonels Nick Griffin, Garland Owens and J.J. Epps, form the big three for Magruder who are looking to have another excellent season this year after losing in last year’s state semifinals.

With the loss of graduated players from last year like center Archadius Rudasingwa and forward Eric Reynolds, Sherwood will have some holes to fill in the paint. Sherwood has added Ryan Baily, a junior transfer from St. Johns, and juniors Brandon Loiacano and Joey DeStefeno, who together led scoring on the JV team and have the chance to possibly start this year.

“I’ll do the best that I can possibly do to contribute to the team,” said DeStefeno. But at its core the team from last year has returned better than ever.

“We are going to miss some of our talent from last year but ultimately I think the team this year has improved immensely.” Bolen said. “I think our new additions to the team will be able to fill the void left by last year’s seniors.”

Going into this season the Warriors have changed statewide divisions from 4A West to 4A North. “It puts us at a disadvantage in the playoffs because we haven’t gotten the chance to see the new teams [from the Baltimore area] we will be playing [in the early rounds of the playoffs],” said Rogers.

The Warriors’ first game is against Seneca Valley on December 6, while huge games loom against Magruder December 16 and February 17 and Springbrook January 10 and January 30. “It is an intense rivalry with Magruder, and I look forward to those games,” said Bolen. McCants added, “We hate Magruder.”