INTO THE WOODS: Derrick Woods of Lob City, right, posts up Wes Robinson of YSU during the best-of-three championship series in the Princeton Recreation Department Men’s Summer Basketball League. Woods starred as Lob City defeated YSU 47-44 last Wednesday in game two to sweep the series and earn the title. Woods produced a double-double in the victory, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He was named the Foreal Wooten Playoff MVP. Lob City finished the summer with a 10-1 record. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)

By Bill Alden

Derrick Woods got Lob City off to a quick start as it faced YSU last Wednesday night at the Community Park courts in game two of the best-of-three championship series in the Princeton Recreation Department Men’s Summer Basketball League.

With second-seeded Lob City looking to clinch the title after having topped top-seeded YSU 46-36 in the opener of the championship series two days earlier, Woods got a pass off the opening tip and barged in for a layup seconds into the contest.

“That is what we talked about in the huddle, the first play was to go to me and see what we could do from there,” said the 6’8, 225-pound Woods. “We knew they were going to double me.”

Woods and his teammates knew they were in for a fight against a scrappy, speedy YSU squad.

“That is a very hard playing team, they play together,” said Woods of YSU. “We pretty much wanted to match their energy. A lot of them are younger guys, we are older. They are like 23, 24. They have a little more fresh legs than us. We just wanted to match their intensity and focus on the post and get me, Parker [Dortch], and Maliq [Sanders] the ball because we had the advantage there.”

Woods gave Lob City a boost of energy in the waning seconds of the first half as he drained a buzzer-beating jumper to give it a 23-15 lead at intermission.

“I channeled my inner Dirk Nowitzki,” said 6’8 forward Woods, referring to the former Dallas Mavericks star. “I got the rebound and I shot it and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that is good.’ I felt it.”

While Lob City felt some pressure as YSU rallied, led by Freddie Young Jr. who scored a game-high 20 points on the night, it pulled out a 47-44 win to complete the sweep and earn the title.

“It is a game of runs, it was going to be up and down,” said Woods, reflecting on the triumph which gave Lob City a final record of 10-1. “They were going to go on their run. Freddie was a really big piece for them. Once we were able to key in on him and get that ball out of his hands, we pretty much took it from there. They definitely played well. They played really hard, they are a good team.”

With Lob City having been swept by Princeton Supply in last year’s championship series, it was primed to break through with the title.

“I was on the team last year we lost the championship last year and now that we made it back, we were hungry to finish it out,” said Woods. “Nobody really wanted to play on Friday, we wanted to do it all today.”

Woods, who ended up with 11 points and 11 rebounds in the win, was named the Foreal Wooten Playoff MVP.

“It was my second MVP this year, I got MVP in Chile,” said Woods, a former St. Peter’s standout who has been playing pro ball overseas the last five years. “I am going to Argentina now — I just signed a couple of days ago. South America is very good. It is good basketball. It is physical but I prefer it that way.”

The physicality of Woods certainly made a difference for Lob City this summer.

“It was play inside and stretch out when I can and hit the three every now and then,” said Woods reflecting on his role with the squad. “There was a lot of focus on me every time we played — everybody knew to double me. If they don’t, it is probably going to be a bucket. I was definitely a huge advantage for our team.”

In assessing Lob City’s championship run, Woods credited a special team camaraderie as a key to its success.

“It is definitely chemistry, a lot of us have played together on a lot of different teams and in different leagues,” said Woods. “Then we bring in some people who we haven’t played with, and they are people who we know will come and play hard with us.”