Woodbury boys basketball: Royals crush Park, climb into top 10

The Royals are rolling.

Woodbury built its current winning streak to six and climbed into the top 10 of Class 4A during a week that saw a blowout win over District 833 rival Park and another Suburban East Conference victory against Mounds View.

The Royals, now 13-3 overall and 7-2 in SEC play, were ranked No. 9 in the latest Minnesota State High School Coaches Association poll.

“We’ve just got to keep after it and grinding it out,” said head Woodbury coach Scott Swansson.

Woodbury was forced to come back from a one-point halftime deficit on Friday, Jan. 25, to claim the road win over Mounds View.

“We got off to a bad start,” Swansson said.

Fouls hampered Woodbury’s attack in both halves, though the Royals were able to build a 11-point second-half lead. Though the Mustangs were able to creep back using what Swansson called “a deliberate offense,” the Royals escaped with a 67-62 victory.

“We won ugly,” Swansson said. “But we’ll take it.”

Senior guard Renard Suggs led all scorers with 26 points in the winning effort. Fellow seniors Robert Claypool and Mario Franco scored 12 and 10 points, respectively. Diallo Powell chipped in eight points for the Royals.

The win came after a dominant performance over District 833 rival Park.

Woodbury won 72-25 in the home contest, where Suggs again was the leading scorer, this time with 23 points. A total of 13 Royals recorded points against the Wolfpack.

The Royals dominated on both ends of the floor, limiting Park to just nine second-half points.

“We finally kept somebody’s point total down,” Swansson said, a nod to his team’s 66 points-against average.

Woodbury now turns to a challenging week of SEC play, beginning with a Tuesday, Jan. 29, game against Cretin-Derham Hall played after the Bulletin went to press.

The Royals will go in search of payback Friday in a rematch game against East Ridge, who beat Woodbury 72-67 on Dec. 21 at East Ridge. The Raptors overcame a 22-point first-half deficit on their way to the win.

The two teams meet with identical 7-2 SEC records and local bragging rights on the line.

Since falling to East Ridge, Woodbury has lost just one other game – 88-71 to Stillwater at home. Swansson said he learned how to use his bench better after the East Ridge game.

“We have a rotation now that we go through,” he said. “I think that will help.”

Friday’s game tips off at 7:15 p.m. at Woodbury High School.

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