Millbrook Boys Hold Off James Wood, 56-52

Posted: January 13, 2016
By WALT MOODY

WINCHESTER — Tuesday’s Conference 21A clash between defending champion Millbrook and James Wood could have gone the visitor’s way in the final seconds, but thanks to a gutsy play from Alex Amos the Pioneers walked out of Casey Gymnasium with a big win.

Amos drew a charge against the Colonels’ Chandler Brooks with 10.9 seconds left and Trey Braithwaite iced the game with two free throws as Millbrook survived 56-52.

James Wood had trailed much of the game and was down 43-40 heading into the final eight minutes. But following a Pioneers bucket to start the final period, the Colonels went on a 9-0 run to take the lead. Brooks had four points and Vincent Lew capped the outburst with a 3-pointer to give James Wood a 49-45 lead with 5:10 left.

Millbrook (10-3 overall, 1-0 Conference 21A, 3-0 Northwestern District) rebounded with a 7-0 outburst. Jordan Funk started the run with a 3-point play on a drive to the basket and capped it with a layup on an excellent pass from Taryk Baylor to give the Pioneers a 52-49 lead.

“We forced some bad shots and got some rebounds,” said Donte Weaver, who had a layup in the key run. “We pushed it down the court and scored.”

From there the outcome hinged on foul shooting and turnovers. Brooks made 1 of 2 and Funk nailed both ends of a one-and-one to give Millbrook a 54-50 lead. Brooks missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:29 left and the Pioneers held the ball for nearly 40 seconds before Amos missed an open 3-pointer.

“He knew better when he came to the bench,” Millbrook coach Derek Butler said of Amos’ shot. “We had a four-point lead and we were looking to milk the clock. … That’s a shot he can make and he was wide open, but in that situation he knows we can pull it back out.”

Brooks scored in transition off the long rebound to cut the lead to 54-52. Funk missed a layup and the Colonels got the ball back.

After one miss, Brooks drove to the hole like he had all game, but Amos was planted in the lane. Brooks made the bucket but it was waved off after he was called for the charge.

“Alex is my best friend and he’s been doing that since middle school,” Weaver said. “I don’t expect anything else from him.”

“He’s been doing that for three years for me,” Butler said of Amos. “I love having him on the court. Without a guy like that you’re not going to win close games. As upset as we were with that shot, he made up for it at the other end.”

James Wood coach Tim Wygant said the call could have gone either way.

“I think that if you asked 50 different people they would say different things,” Wygant said. “It was a coin flip at the end. Regardless of what happened, that’s what you want the opportunity to win or to put yourself in the position to win. You want meaningful possessions at the end of the game and that was one that just didn’t go our way.”

In the ensuing confusion after the call, Wood took five seconds before they fouled Braithwaite. The senior calmly nailed both shots in the double bonus to seal the game.

“He’ll knock them down if he’s asked to,” Butler said of Braithwaite. “He did that last year when he came under pressure situations. We’ve got to shoot better as a team during the game, but when it’s been close down the stretch we have had some guys step up.”

The Pioneers grabbed a 15-11 lead after one quarter, thanks to P.K. Kier’s putback at the buzzer and held that four-point margin (28-24) at the half.

But Wood (7-5 overall, 0-3 conference, 0-2 district) gave the Pioneers some of their own medicine to start the second half. Millbrook, which has forced many turnovers with its trapping defense, got trapped by the Colonels, who forced seven turnovers in the period. Robert Jackson had six points in an 11-3 run to start the half as Wood took a 35-31 lead.

“They’re a very seasoned team and there’s very few things that you can send at them that they haven’t seen before,” Wygant said of the Pioneers. “I think our kids played the best defense that they have played in a couple of weeks. It showed a lot of promise.”

“We were kind of looking for the right group to get the job out there,” Butler said. “We just weren’t doing the little things. … They were getting after it on the defensive end and we weren’t making the plays that we needed to be successful. We were trying to take the easy way out.”

Part of the right group included Weaver, who had missed most of the last two games with ankle and groin injuries.

He scored one bucket and assisted on Trammel Anthony’s layup that gave the Pioneers’ their 3-point lead heading into the final quarter.

Funk’s 12 points led a balanced Millbrook attack that featured nine players with baskets. Weaver added nine points and three assists.

Brooks had 19 and Jackson notched 13 for the Colonels.

“It was a fun game,” Wygant said. “It was one of those games that gets both teams better. No one gets better in blowouts. We’ll see them again.”

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