Wood's defense keys boys' basketball win over Millbrook

WINCHESTER — In winning 10 of 11 games to reach a record of 11-3, the James Wood boys’ basketball team allowed only 41.5 points per game.

In the ensuing seven games, James Wood went 1-6 and allowed 57.7 points per game. But on Friday night, the Colonels offered a reminder of why they have as good a chance as anyone to earn a Region 4C tournament berth when the Class 4 Northwestern District tournament gets underway on Thursday.

James Wood held district regular-season champion Millbrook to just 25 points through three quarters and went on to a 58-46 win on the Colonels’ Senior Night at Shirley Gymnasium.

The Colonels (13-9, 8-6 district) held Millbrook (15-6, 11-2) to five points in the first quarter (three points came on free throws as James Wood built an 8-5 lead). They held the Pioneers to 6-of-20 shooting in the second and third quarters in building a 38-25 lead (the Colonels led 21-17 at halftime. They forced 12 turnovers over the last three quarters.

James Wood also held Pioneers’ leading scorer Julien Hagerman (14.9 points per game) to just three points, all on free throws. Hagerman missed half of the third quarter because of foul trouble, but he was held to three shot attempts in the last three quarters.

Millbrook standout guard Taralle Hayden (18 points in the Pioneers’ 47-35 win on Jan. 10) missed his third straight game, but the Colonels could only play against who was on the floor. And they liked what they saw as they look to grab the district’s second Region 4C tournament berth in the district tournament. The Pioneers already have one of them for winning the district regular-season title.

“At the start of the year, we were on fire,” said James Wood guard James Cornwell (15 points), who missed the first Millbrook game with an injury and did well running a James Wood offense that made 19 of 39 field goals over the last three quarters Friday. “We got caught in a losing streak, but I think we’re starting to get that intensity back here at the of the year. I think we’ll carry that into the playoffs.”

James Wood was coming off a 56-50 loss to Liberty on Thursday, this after beating the Eagles 55-40 on Tuesday to snap a five-game losing streak. Colonels coach Tim Wygant said “the ball wouldn’t go in the first half” on Thursday, but he liked the execution on both ends Friday.

Wygant said the defense the team played Friday was more reminiscent of what the Colonels did during their 11-3 start.

“We were rotating well, we were active vocally, active hands, active feet,” Wygant said. “Just feeding off our own energy, the five guys on the floor and the bench. When we do that, we’re very tough to score on. You’re going to run into teams that are going to make shots, but when we defensively do the right thing we have a good chance to have success possession to possession.”

The Colonels’ felt Lavaughan Freeman (10 points, 10 rebounds) in particular did a lot of right things. He played a big role in denying Hagerman the ball and led James Wood to a 25-19 rebounding edge over the final three quarters. Eight of Freeman’s rebounds came in that stretch, and he had two of his baskets on putbacks.

“I thought Lavaughan did an outstanding job when his responsibility wasn’t guarding Julien to clean up missed shots,” Wygant said.

“We were denying Julien the ball, and off the ball, we just had to help each other,” Cornwell said. “We were just playing help-side. Whenever they would get in the lane, Lavaughan was getting in there, making big plays for us. It was just a great time, a great game.”

Millbrook coach Steve Grubbs felt the Pioneers did not execute the way they’re capable of offensively.

“We shot awful,” Grubbs said. “We missed shots that we’ve hit all season long. Credit goes to them defensively, whether it’s them getting a hand up or them rushing a shot, I don’t know. I’ll have to look at film for that.”

James Wood built up its lead in the third quarter thanks in large part to some excellent transition play. The Colonels finished off the scoring in the third quarter when Cornwell grabbed a rebound and immediately took off. He passed ahead to Jerome McCarthy (eight points), who adjusted his body in mid-air to put a shot in off the glass for a layup that made it 38-25.

“[In the second half], we wanted to step on their throats and not let up at all,” Freeman said.

“Tonight, we were able to push some pace and able to get the ball up the floor,” Wygant said.

Wygant said the Colonels committed too many fouls for his liking in the fourth quarter, and Jordan Jackson (eight of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter) made it a seven-point game at 46-39. He was fouled while banking in a shot after driving and hit the ensuing free throw with 4:36 left.

But James Wood went on an 8-0 run over the next 2:29 to keep its lead in double digits for good. The stretch included a pretty sequence from Cornwell. He started by driving left around a double team 30 feet from the basket. He started to lose his balance shortly after he dribbled into the center of lane, but he flipped in a shot that bounced off the rim and in while low to the floor to make it 52-39 with 2:32 left.

It was exactly the type of game Wygant was looking for as James Wood enters the postseason. The Colonels will be the third seed and host No. 6 Kettle Run at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

“We were poised,” Wygant said. “All of our subs contributed outstanding minutes. The coaching staff was on point, the bench was in it, the fans were in it. It wasn’t just a James Wood team victory, it was a James Wood school victory.”

Jaden Ashby added nine points for the Colonels and Tyson Stewart had 10 for Millbrook.

Class 4 Northwestern District tournaments

Most of the matchups are set for the boys’ and girls’ quarterfinal games that will take place on Thursday.

In boys’ action, Millbrook and Culpeper County (5-14, 4-9 district) play a regular-season game today, but the No. 1 Pioneers and No. 7 Blue Devils are each locked into their seeds.

James Wood was part of three-way tie for second at 8-6 in the district. In the event of a tie between three teams or more, the drawing of a number is used to seed teams, with one being the best number to draw, two being the second best, etc. On Thursday, Handley (11-11, 8-6) drew a 2 and will be the No. 2 seed. James Wood drew a 5 and Liberty (13-9, 8-6) drew a 6 and will be the No. 4 seed.

In other matchups on Thursday, Millbrook will host No. 8 Sherando (5-17, 3-11) at 7:30 p.m., Handley will host Culpeper at 7, and Liberty will host No. 5 Fauquier (12-8, 7-7).

For the girls, a tiebreaker game between Millbrook (21-1, 13-1) and James Wood (20-2, 13-1) will take place at 7 p.m. tonight at Sherando to determine who gets the No. 1 seed for the district tournament and an automatic Region 4C tournament berth.

On Thursday, the winner will host No. 8 Handley (3-19, 2-12) at 6 p.m. and the loser will host No. 7 Kettle Run (5-15, 3-11) at 6 p.m. No. 4 Sherando (12-10, 8-6) will also host No. 5 Culpeper (7-15, 4-10) at 6 p.m. Culpeper and No. 6 Liberty (8-14, 4-10) split their two regular-season games (head-to-head results are used to break two-team ties), so it went to a number drawing to break the tie. Culpeper got the 5 seed for drawing a “3” while Liberty drew a “6.” Liberty will play at No. 3 Fauquier (13-8, 9-5) on Thursday.

The semifinal round for both tournaments is Feb. 18 and the championship games are Feb. 20.

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