Bulldogs bounce back: Woodburn boys pick up clutch win against South Albany
Published 4:04 pm Thursday, February 20, 2025
- After being dealt its first back-to-back losses of conference play, the Woodburn boys basketball team is riding high again. (Sophia Cossette/Woodburn Independent)
After being dealt its first back-to-back losses of conference play, the Woodburn boys basketball team is riding high again.
On Tuesday night, Feb. 18, the Bulldogs pulled out a necessary 68-65 win against a tough conference opponent, South Albany.
While South was tied with Woodburn towards the top of the conference heading into the game, it appears the Bulldogs still have the Red Hawks’ number after beating them by 25 points in the previous matchup.
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Coming into the game, Woodburn needed this win, and it was evident from the first whistle. The Bulldogs wasted no time in the opening quarter, hitting a barrage of threes and keeping the ball moving on offense.
“It felt good just to make shots and see our players just kind of getting back to the fundamentals of what we do and just being confident to go take shots and go play the game the way they know how,” said Woodburn Coach Raul Veliz.
While the shots were flowing in the first half, the Bulldogs defense was what kept them in the game. This defensive effort was spearheaded by Woodburn junior Anthony Figueredo, who guarded South’s top player throughout the night while also scoring 12 off multiple second-chance points and clutch free throws.
Night to night Figueredo plays with such relentless intensity that you often wonder if he’ll make it to the final buzzer. If you hear someone hit the hardwood, it’s likely Figueredo, as he dives for loose balls, crashes the boards and finishes through contact.
“He (Figueredo) did a great job,” said Veliz. “He was tasked today with probably taking their best player and guarding him, and he was kind of just trying to keep him under control. Before the game, I go, ‘Are you ready, are you going to be able to guard this guy? And he is like, ‘I got it, coach’ without hesitation; he was excited for it.”
The Bulldogs headed into halftime up 37-34, but South came out hot in the third. Woodburn had a few rare defensive collapses, which allowed the Red Hawks a few too many easy layups to end the third quarter. And, as the fourth quarter rolled around, South was also clicking better on defense, slowing down the Bulldogs and forcing them to take shots from outside the paint.
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“They were playing a gap defense, so not really allowing us to drive the basketball. And so we had to be patient to find ball movement and get the defense shifting side to side,” said Veliz. “They did a good job of slowing it down and that’s what allowed them to kind of get back in the game down the stretch.”
However, the Red Hawks’ defensive scheme was still no match for Woodburn’s star shooter, Cruz Veliz, who simply adapted, hitting midrange shots and threes to keep the Bulldogs in the match.
With three minutes left in the game, the Bulldogs were trailing for the first time in the quarter. But, in crunch time, senior big man Daniel Mcneal stepped up to get Woodburn a key defensive stop.
“Daniel is undersized at his position, and we asked him to do a lot of things,” said Veliz. “He’s kind of a football guy playing basketball, but we love it, and we love that kind of intensity he brings, especially down the stretch.”
The final minutes of the fourth quarter boiled down to a free throw shootout, and the Bulldog’s confidence and composure won out. Woodburn made the majority of its shots from the line, and the Red Hawks did not, giving the Bulldogs the victory.
Looking ahead, the Bulldogs have four more games of conference play before the postseason. In last year’s 5A state playoffs, Woodburn took third place, and the team hopes to repeat last year’s deep playoff run.
“We look at it as we got to win out to put ourselves in a good spot,” said Veliz. “ If we can do that, we would probably get a home playoff game that first round and then after that it’s just anybody’s game. Our last few games are going to be tough so it’s just going to be a battle.”