James Wood Boys Hold Off Strong Effort From Millbrook For 58-55 District Victory

Posted: January 11, 2014
By GREG BRILL
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Millbrook was determined to come out with a lot more effort than it did in a lopsided loss on Wednesday to Sherando.

James Wood, on the other hand, was in no mood to lose a second straight home game to start the new year.

The Colonels, fresh off a loss to Fauquier on Wednesday, got all the right breaks in the end and held off Millbrook 58-55 in a thrilling Northwestern District boys’ basketball game Friday night in Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium.

James Wood improved to 7-3 (1-0 in district) on the season, and with a few breaks here and there, could be 9-1.

First-season coach Tim Wygant knows that winning games like his squad did against the Pioneers are huge character-builders. He’s also glad that his team bounced back after letting a nine-point lead in the third quarter into a two-point deficit in the fourth — a prime example of their resiliency.

“The important thing is that you don’t really get better as a team or as a program if you play in blowouts on either side [of the result],” said Wygant. “You have to play close games and you have to learn to win close games.

“And this goes for both teams. I think both teams got better tonight. And that’s great. Both teams are starting their district play and I really think our kids tonight showed a lot of character. They deserve a ton of credit for the way they buckled down, and they did the right things. I don’t feel like we shot the ball particularly well tonight, but what you really need to do is minimize their runs at the end of the game. And I think our kids did a very good job of doing that.”

Derek Butler is also in his first season as coach at Millbrook. The losses have been hard, and the Pioneers are 2-11 (0-2). But after never really being in the game at home against Sherando (a 20-point loss) two days before, Millbrook showed up Friday and played much, much better.

It definitely was something to build off of.

“That [Wednesday’s loss at home to a rival] was our first game with a packed gym at our own place there and a lot of them had that deer-in-the-headlights look,” Butler said. “... We stressed execution [on Friday] and we went over what we wanted them to do and they came out here and did it. I’m really proud of the execution and their effort, I just wish they had a little better result to show for it.”

The game was played like a track meet and each team looked to push at every turn. As the final score indicated, the game stayed close throughout.

There were five lead changes in a first period that saw James Wood lead 17-14 after eight minutes.

In the second period, the Colonels moved ahead twice by five only to see Millbrook go on a 6-0 run to take a 27-26 lead off a jumper from the foul line by Donte Weaver with 1:49 left.

Just 10 seconds later, James Wood senior Nick Goode, as he would do so many times during the game, hit a clutch shot, sending the Colonels off on a 8-1 run to close the first half ahead 34-28.

That six-point margin was the biggest for either side until James Wood went up a game-high nine points twice in the third period.

The latter saw Goode (team-high 14 points) drive hard for a score and send the Colonels up 39-30 with 5:29 left.

But back came Millbrook, getting points in transition and reeling off an 8-0 run to close to 39-38 with 1:32 left.

Millbrook junior guard Zach Harrell scored two buckets during the run and he would continue to burn James Wood in the fourth on his way to a game-high 21 points.

Two baskets by James Wood forward Josh Akeley would forge a 44-40 lead heading to the fourth, but it would be another big man for the Colonels who would provide the clinching basket.

Each bookend-period saw five lead changes. There were ties at 46, 49, 51, 53, and 55 in the final period, but a basket by junior Branson Ratlief put James Wood over the top for good.

With exactly one minute to play, James Wood senior guard Cam Butler (12 points) dumped down to Ratlief, who turned and scored, getting fouled in the process.

Ratlief missed his free throw, but the Colonels would take charge from there.

In the first half, Ratlief scored eight of his 11 points to provide just the kind of scoring James Wood needed when some of its other shooters could not get shots to fall.

“I did a pretty good job, but really, we all just kind of came together because after that loss on Wednesday [against Fauquier], we all knew that we needed to step it up because we haven’t played well at home,” said Ratlief, who scored 15 points in an earlier game this season against Heritage. “This is a good way to come out and win for us, since it was a big crowd and a good atmosphere.”

A basket by Taryk Baylor with 2:07 left tied the game at 55, but the Pioneers would not score again. The basket by Ratlief put the Colonels ahead, but James Wood also missed a pair of one-and-ones at the foul line in the final 30 seconds.

Goode hit the first of a two-shot foul with 12 seconds left for a three-point lead, and Millbrook called for a timeout to set up a play for the tie.

With under five seconds left, Harrell released a 3 from the left baseline that fell away. Chris Oates rebounded and his turnaround fade from behind the arc missed as well as the buzzer sounded, allowing James Wood to escape with a hard-earned win.

The Colonels pulled through, despite senior Ryland Williams seeing a box-and-one often. He scored just five points, but he gave James Wood six rebounds, three steals (team-high) and four assists (tied for the lead). Goode had four assists and seven points in each half. Ratlief led the team with seven rebounds, and Butler had the key assist to Ratlief when his shot had trouble falling in the second half.

“This was the type of game we needed to respond with,” Wygant said. “Nick elevated his game. [Millbrook’s] defensive strategy was very sound in attempting to take one of our principal players, Ryland, away [with the box and one]. Branson played really well, especially in the first half.

“And that’s what we wanted to do. When the opposing team takes away a dynamic player like Ryland, the other individuals on the team have to up their responsibilities. Nick did an excellent job tonight. Cam did an excellent job facilitating the basketball, and a lot of times that’s Ryland’s job. Branson took it upon himself to really finish around the basket and came up with a lot of big points.”

Millbrook shot 43 percent (22 of 51) from the field, while James Wood was good on 39 percent (22 of 57). Millbrook was plus four in rebounding, but James Wood had six fewer turnovers (including five in the second half).