Woodbridge rallies in second half to defeat Northwood for second straight PCL win

Woodbridge’s JC Schindler is defended by Northwood’s Zaid Yunis during Friday night’s game. (Photo: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Woodbridge High School’s boys basketball team battled back from a five-point halftime deficit to defeat Northwood 45-37 in a Pacific Coast League game in front of a big crowd at Woodbridge Friday night.

Northwood led 23-18 at halftime, but Woodbridge got untracked early in the third quarter. The Warriors’ Jason Briggs, who had limited minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, scored seven points in a row to help the Warriors turn the game around.

Woodbridge led 33-31 after three quarters and built its lead in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

“At the end of the day it was on us,” said Woodbridge Coach Steve Scoggin. “In the first half, it was a lot of one on one, we weren’t moving the ball, we weren’t cycling through what we’ve been doing these past couple of games. It turned into a one on one , but you got to give them credit. They were getting up and playing physical and putting a lot of pressure on us.”

Woodbridge (10-11, 2-0) was led by JC Schindler who had 18 points and Yousef Alsaad who had 12 points. Briggs, a sophomore, wound up with 10 points.

“With him (Briggs) being in foul trouble in the second quarter really hurt us,” Scoggin said. “I really wanted to get him going early in the second half and he came up big for a sophomore, especially with this crowd. He was all-tournament at the Tustin Tournament and just plays the right way.”

Schindler also made some big plays.

“He’s solid, I never have to worry about him, his effort is unbelievable, he makes big shots and big plays and he’s our best player on both ends,” Scoggin said.

Northwood (10-9, 1-1) was led by Aditya Sheth, who had 12 points and Ryan Abaye, who scored 11 points.

“It was a tale of two halves,” said Northwood Coach Christian Manalo. “We played smart and tough basketball in the first half but didn’t make enough plays in the second. They had a lot of paint points and really took advantage of their size.

“Our guys played hard, that’s never a question, but they made more plays tonight. Hats off to them. We got to have short term memory and move on to CdM tomorrow and Portola on Tuesday.”

Northwood hosts CdM Saturday at noon in a non-league game.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com