Royals boys on a roll

• Fleck goes up for two

Woodbury center Ben Fleck goes up for two points in Woodbury's Friday night win over Park. Staff Photo by Tom Carothers.

Talk about it

Three straight victories, culminating in a 63-50 home win over intradistrict rival Park on Friday, Dec. 18, vaulted the Woodbury boys basketball team over the .500 mark with a 3-2 record.

“Got off to a slow start, but finished strong,” coach Scott Swansson said in reference to the win over Park.

While the Royals leader believes the team “took a step backwards” against the Wolfpack after allowing the visitors a sizable early lead before rallying for the win, he did like what he saw in the previous game — a 65-59 victory at Edina on Tuesday, Dec. 15.

“We played a nice game against Edina,” he said. “We did some good things down the stretch. We made our free throws, played good defense and rebounded well.”

Forward Nick Quicksell led all scorers with 21 points against the Hornets, with frontcourt mate Joe Rizzardi notching 16 points.

Quicksell turned in his first 30-point plateau performance of the year with 31 against the Wolfpack as forward David Smith turned in an 11-point performance.

“Nick is averaging 23 points per game for the three games he has been back,” Swansson said.

The Royals takek on another highly-regarded team from the Capitol City as St. Paul Central — ranked eighth in Class AAA — visits WHS on Monday, Dec. 21.

Woodbury also is scheduled to travel to Lakeville North the next night in the Royals’ final action for the next two weeks.

Swansson said the team will “take a break” from play this holiday season instead of making its customary appearance in the Catholic Spirit Tournament at the University of St. Thomas.

Tags: sports, royals, boys, basketball, win, park, edina