Millbrook boys eliminate James Wood in district playoffs

By MARK SAWYER SPECIAL TO THE WINCHESTER STAR

WINCHESTER — Talent will win a lot of basketball games, but when the postseason hits it’s always nice to have some veteran leadership to fall back on.

Fortunately for the Millbrook boys’ basketball team, it has plenty of both and hopes are high for a deep run into the postseason.

Three Pioneer seniors scored in double figures Tuesday night as second-seeded Millbrook rolled to a 79-45 victory over No. 7 James Wood in the quarterfinals of the Northwestern District tournament at Casey Gymnasium.

It was the fourth straight win for the Pioneers (19-4) and advances them to Thursday night’s semifinals where they will host Sherando (12-11) at 6 p.m. with the winner advancing to Friday’s championship contest. For James Wood, the loss ended a tough season that saw the Colonels lose 14 of their last 15 games.

“When it comes to tournament time we understand that tournament basketball is a little bit different than the regular season and things get amped up for every team that we’re going to play against,” Millbrook coach Rob Harris said. “We need to start doing the little things to make sure that we play the right way and the way that we want to play.”

The night couldn’t have started any better for the Pioneers and senior Ben Curtin. Millbrook won the opening tip and Curtin immediately drilled a 3-pointer and was fouled on the play giving the Pioneers a quick 4-0 lead and sparking a 9-0 run to open the contest. Curtin scored seven of the nine.

James Wood (6-17) was unfazed by the Pioneers’ quick start and punched right back with a 6-0 run of their own.

After Curtin knocked down another trey, his third of the first quarter, the two teams exchanged buckets for the final 41/2 minutes with Millbrook holding a 16-10 lead after one quarter.

That’s as close as the Colonels would get the rest of the night. Millbrook and its offensive firepower simply took over the game in the second quarter and as hard as Wood fought it just couldn’t match the scoring ability of the Pioneers.

Millbrook opened the quarter with a 10-3 run pushing the lead to 13 (26-13) with just over four minutes left in the half. The Pioneers would eventually extend that to 17 points (36-19) by halftime after outscoring the Colonels 20-9 in the second quarter.

The Pioneers shot a blistering 51 percent for the game, including 56 percent (23 of 41) on two-point field goal attempts. However, they struggled from the free throw line making only 18 of 34 attempts.

“I thought we came out with some good energy and we executed some things that we wanted to do,” Harris said. “We got into a little bit of a rhythm and therefore we got out to a good lead in the first half. We were able to extend that lead in the second half. We prepare for every team the same way. [Monday] was a good practice day and we came out and executed the way we wanted to. Survive and advance, that’s what we want to do.”

Senior Jordan Funk led the Pioneers with a game-high 20 points, while adding four rebounds and four assists. Curtin hit four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points while senior Isaac Brown added 10 points. Dean Rocco came off the bench to score eight points, while Jalen Tyson grabbed eight rebounds.

Jackson Lynch led the way for the Colonels with nine points and Wyatt Boyd added eight off the bench. Cam Firebaugh, the Colonels’ top scorer with a 19.3 average, was held to six points and did not score in the first half.

“At the beginning of the game we weren’t really remembering our defensive responsibilities and Ben [Curtin] hit a couple of really big shots for them,” James Wood coach Tim Wygant said. “I thought our guys showed some really good character coming back from that. Their offensive firepower and their rebounding aggressiveness overwhelmed us in the second quarter and carried into the third quarter. Millbrook shot the ball extremely well and got a lot of second chance shots.”

Seniors Tyler Mounts, Trent Campbell and Firebaugh played in their final game for the Colonels.

“It’s nice to never question the effort,” Wygant said of his team. “They did fight hard. We have to get a little bit more consistent but that should take care of itself as long as they get in there and work. Everybody wants to win but you coach because you enjoy it and you want to see the kids grow and we’ve definitely seen that this year.”