Woodcreek's defense is key to 56-41 win over Lodi

Woodcreek struggled offensively early, but the Timberwolves clicked well enough in the second half to open up a lead and along with a stellar defensive performance, went on to beat Lodi in the first round of the Division 2 playoffs on Wednesday, 56-41. Woodcreek held a narrow 27-25 lead at halftime, but outscored Lodi 14-9 in the third quarter and went on to win by 15. "The key was we played our game and did what we do," Woodcreek senior post Max Van Laningham said. "We're really good when we do our thing. We have our habits and when we break them we do bad, but when we don't, we do good." Regardless of the slow start on the offensive end, Woodcreek played superb defense for the entire game, which helped them in that they only needed to score 42 points to win the game, but they scored 56. "Our issue isn't with defense," Woodcreek coach Drew Hibbs said. "What did we allow, 41? I'm pretty pleased with that. Our issue is offense. We go through some stretches sometimes when we struggle. We get away from what we're doing and we just struggle. "We had success going inside and Max was doing well and then we kind of got away from it and took some bad shots and we didn't need to." A three-pointer from Zach Bualat late in the third quarter gave the Timberwolves their biggest lead up to that point in the game, 38-31. It was Bualat's only points of the game. By the end of the third, Woodcreek led 41-34 and extended the lead in the fourth quarter, as their defense continued to be clutch. Van Laningham led the way with 23 points, while Michael Kirby Jr. scored 16. Woodcreek got good contributions off the bench from Zayden Robinson (eight points) and Luis Jauregui (four points). At this point in the season, it's about winning the game, no matter how you play. "It's survive and advance anyway you can," Hibbs said. "A one-point win does the job too. We knew they were tough. We played them before. We're going to need to play better on Thursday. Everyone is tough now." In other first-round playoff games, in Division I, 12th-seed Oak Ridge lost to Lincoln of Stockton 57-42, while third-seeded Folsom defeated Gregori 88-52. Folsom will face McClatchy on Friday. In Division 2, Whitney beat Rio Americano 65-55 and will face Woodcreek on Friday. Del Oro, the seventh seed, beat Grant 59-50, while 15th-seeded Rocklin lost to No. 2 seed Destiny Christian Academy 76-57. Del Oro will face Destiny Christian on Friday. In Division 3, top-seeded Placer beat Burbank 93-57 and on Friday will host Modesto-Central Catholic, which beat Roseville 70-65. The No. 4 seed, Oakmont, was upset by Pioneer 61-49. No. 3 seed Twelve Bridges almost saw the same fate as Oakmont but pulled out a 56-55 win over Vacaville-Wood to advance to another home game against East Union. In Division 4, Colfax, the fourth seed, got by River Islands 75-56 and will host Escalon on Friday. Western Sierra lost to Westlake Charter, 65-53. In Division 5, ninth seed John Adams Academy of El Dorado Hills earned a 76-74 win over Modesto-Big Valley Christian. They will face Bret Harte on Friday.