NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — It’s a fun time to be a Woodside boys varsity basketball fan.
“We’re very connected,” said four-star, VCU commit Silas Barksdale. “We’re very young, but we have a great connection outside of basketball,”
The Wolverines are off to a 15-0 start to the 2024-25 season and have now won 25 games in a row. Getting to 16-0 will be a challenging mark to hit, as Woodside will head to Richmond Saturday to play John Marshall, ranked by MaxPreps as the 11th-best high school basketball team in the U.S.
The group isn’t worried about who’s in front of them, even if a win over John Marshall could mean a national ranking for the Wolverines themselves.
“We’ve played national competition throughout our June circuit so we’re used to it,” said head coach Stefan Welsh. “This is really just another game for us. I expect an all-out war. I know they’re going to be coming and we’re going to be coming too. … My number one goal was to make Woodside a national program again. Where they rank us is all opinionated. In our eyes, we know we’re a national basketball program. We’re no stranger to this setting.”
Senior point guard Masiah Wells-Stevens said Saturday’s matchup will be one to help motivate the team and propel them forward.
“Most of the teams we’re going to play in the playoffs are going to be great like them, so this will get us going,” said Wells-Stevens, who’s committed to playing college ball next season at Radford.
The Wolverines will host Heritage in Newport News at 7 p.m. Thursday.