Millbrook bench ignites romp against James Wood

WINCHESTER — Andrew Henry, Detric Brown and Richie Pell may have started Friday’s game on the Millbrook bench, but they certainly weren’t “reserved” when they got onto the court.

The trio combined for 45 points as the Pioneers’ reserves outscored the starters in an 89-52 Class 4 Northwestern District rout against James Wood.

Led by 17 points from Henry, Millbrook’s bench netted 49 points and sank nine of the Pioneers’ 13 3-pointers. The bench was key in the second and third quarters where the Pioneers outscored the Colonels 52-27 to take control of the game.

“They came in and played their tails off,” Millbrook coach Steve Grubbs said. “They were active, moving and looking for each other. The ball wasn’t sticking to anyone’s hands. It was constant movement. .... We have confidence in all of the kids who stepped on the court tonight and they showed why.”

The Pioneers, who were coming off a 17-point loss against Loudoun Valley on Thursday, have been tinkering with rotations with the loss of standout Ryan Liero, who could possibly return for the playoffs.

“At this point into the year, I think everyone is kind of tweaking and checking into things and seeing what works with this,” Grubbs said. “Hopefully, we figure it out completely here in the next week or two so that we roll with a bit of confidence and good head of steam into the playoffs. I thought across the board that our kids came out to play tonight.”

The Pioneers (8-9, 5-2) got off to a great start as Javell Holmes stole a pass and dunked on the opening play. The Colonels never led in the contest, but were within a basket (11-9) before Henry and Brown connected on consecutive 3-pointers. Brown’s steal and floater at the buzzer made it 19-12 after one quarter.

James Wood (6-7, 3-3) never got closer than seven points (the final time at 26-19) from there. Henry was a big reason why.

The junior guard got blazing hot over the final 3:30 of the half. Henry connected on four 3-pointers and a jump shot in a 3-minute stretch as Millbrook’s lead ballooned. Pell’s 3-pointer closed out a 21-10 run over the final 4:20 of the period as the Pioneers led 47-29 at the break.

Henry went 6-for-6 from the floor and scored all 17 of his points in the first half.

How big did the basket look in that second quarter?

“It looked very big,” Henry said. “I was feeling good in the second quarter. ... It feels like you could just do anything on the court.”

“He was hot so I was trying to find him any chance I could,” Brown said. “He was doing great and making his shots. It always makes everybody else’s job easier if someone is hitting like that.”

Henry, among others, has been able to take advantage of some increased playing time because of Liero’s injury.

“It sucks that Ryan got hurt, but someone has to take those minutes,” Grubbs said. “Andrew kind of stepped up tonight and for my sake I hope he does it every night. We’re constantly trying to find people to fill out that scorebook, play hard and get where they need to be.”

Henry says he’s adjusting to that role. “I’m starting to feel more comfortable,” he said. “It’s starting to slow down. I’m taking my time and feeling the rhythm.”

Brown’s seat at the start of the game has been a rare occurrence during his career at Millbrook, but the three-year starter made the most of that against the Colonels.

Brown netted 11 points in the first half and had five points and three assists in the third quarter as the Millbrook lead grew to 35 points by the period’s end.

“Honestly, I’m not used to coming off the bench, but it definitely is a different mentality,” Brown said. “When you are out of the game, you have to stay focused and locked in. Be engaged in the game so that when you get in you are not a step behind everybody who has been in the game. It’s definitely a little different, but I think it worked out well tonight.”

Brown said that he was looking to make the right plays and that often involved finding open teammates. Pell knocked down shots after three passes from Brown on the way to a nine-point quarter.

“Coach talked to me about it before the game to let the game come to me,” said Brown, who also grabbed 10 boards. “Find people within the offense and score my points within the offense, just don’t press the issue with anything. I think that really helped me.”

Ashton Kees provided the only consistent offense for the Colonels by netting 22 points. James Wood killed itself at the foul line, converting on just 10 of 25 attempts (Kees made 6 of 7) with several of those being the front end of one-and-one opportunities.

“It doesn’t matter what team plays another team, if you don’t make your free throws and you don’t rebound, you can’t win,” James Wood coach Tim Wygant said. “We didn’t rebound the ball well, specifically in the second and third quarters. We gave them a lot of opportunities for second-chance shots. Most of the second-chance shots were kick-out threes and they killed it.

“We had the opportunity to cut the gap with some free throws and we honestly didn’t make them pay. They fouled us a lot and we didn’t make our free throws. It’s fairly simple to say. They shot the ball extremely well, but we didn’t do what we can control. We can control rebounding and we can control making free throws.”

Seminaro, who scored 13 in the second half, joined Brown with 16 points. Pell had 12 and Cohen Creswell netted 10 for the Pioneers, who struggled offensively the previous night.

“Basketball is such a weird sport,” Grubbs said with a chuckle. “You have nights where nothing clicks and you have nights where everything clicks. [Thursday] night, it seemed like nothing in the first half was clicking for us. And then tonight, you roll in and I think you get that anger and frustration from the night before and you put it all into something. ... You just go out and execute.”

Wygant is hoping his club, the only team to beat Sherando in district play, can return to playing the way it did at the start of the season. “We need to rebound better and we need to make teams pay when they foul us,” Wygant said. “That’s it.”

Loudoun Valley 67, Millbrook 50

PURCELLVILLE — Loudoun Valley avenged an earlier season loss against Millbrook on Thursday.

The Pioneers dropped to 7-9.

Millbrook leaders: Jacob Burns 9 points, Cohen Creswell 9 points; Andrew Henry 8 points; Tyler Seminaro 7 points.

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