by Andrew Wasik ’13

As the season dwindles down to the end, boys’ basketball is sitting at the very top of the Montgomery County 4A East Conference with a county record of 6-1 and an overall record of 9-5.

The Warriors suffered their first conference defeat after a five-game winning streak when they lost at Paint Branch on January 22 by a score of 56-43. In the game, senior Brandon Loiacono led Sherwood with 12 points.

In high school basketball, seeding is everything in the playoffs, because conferences tend to be very top-heavy in terms of talent. With a higher seed, the Warrior team will probably end up playing a team they should be able to easily roll over in the first round rather than facing a team that has a chance to upset them and end any playoff hopes before the post-season even gets started. However, the 4A East Conference has proven to be a fairly tough conference with every team except Blake above .500 for their overall records.

The Warriors thus far this season are being led by seniors Joey DeStefano, who is averaging 11.5 points per game, and Loiacono, who is averaging 11.4 points per game. Senior transfers Alec Wheeler and Daryl Brown, and junior transfer Ellis Dozier have all also made major contributions to the Warriors.

The team next plays a non-conference Quince Orchard team, who are 10-4, on February 1. After that, the Warriors have five remaining games before the playoffs, highlighted by the final game of the season at home against arch-rival Magruder, who are currently 12-1. A win would be a huge momentum boost going into the playoffs.