Boys hoops get back-back W’s

• Winning ways

Staff photo by Tom Carothers Royals guard Ernest Dorsett helped the Royals boys hoops team get their record above .500 last week.

Talk about it

Woodbury boys basketball coach Scott Swanson made it clear his team is not completely satisfied with his team’s hovering .500 record. But it’s not as much the wins and losses he’s frustrated with as it is the lack of a complete game he has seen from his players.

What concerns me is we play as good as we need to,” he said. “We need to have a little more killer instinct. We need to play a complete game from start to finish.”

What the Royals did have was enough two record back-to-back wins last weekend over Roseville and Rochester John Marshall, respectively.

The Friday and Saturday victories pushed Woodbury over the .500 hump once again, a mark the team has been flirting with all season.

Heading into the weekend the Royals were looking to bounce back after a tough 89-85 overtime loss to Hastings Tuesday, Jan. 20, where forward Nick Quicksell scored 41 points.

Woodbury had turnover and free throw troubles galore throughout the game as Hastings led 38-34 at the half before amassing a double-digit advantage in the second half.

With the game nearly out of reach late, however, Quicksell led a late Royals charge that pulled the hosts even at 76-76 and sent the contest into an extra session.

Yet, the Raiders would not be denied their upset victory, outscoring Woodbury 13-9 in the added four-minute frame to take the win on the road.

Swanson said defense was the biggest issues in the loss.

“I keep telling our guys we can score plenty of points, but I think we need to play better defense on the perimeter.”

The loss was Woodbury’s first in conference play, but the Royals (7-6, overall, 4-1 SEC) found themselves another Suburban East win Friday in a 72-65 win over Roseville. In the victory, three Royals scored in double figures, with 20 points coming from guard Bo Schiffler. Forwards Quicksell and Sam Swanson added 16 and 15 points, respectively.

The hoopsters then trekked down to Rochester John Marshall and beat the Rockets 64-52. Schiffler led all scorers with 21 points.

Swanson said he believes if his players can put in two good efforts this week, they will find themselves in a strong position as conference play winds down.

“I think we have a pretty good team,” he said. “We just have to put that whole game together.”

The team played at Park Tuesday, with the results coming after press time.

Woodbury will play host to Mounds View Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Tags: sports, woodbury, basketball, swanson, roseville, rochester, wins, royals