Pioneers survive scare

WINCHESTER- When Millbrook's Rze Culbreath does shooting drills in practice, he sometimes switches and takes shots with his left hand.

Culbreath isn't really ambidextrous, but the Pioneers' sophomore guard turned in one of the biggest plays of the game Tuesday night against James Wood by going the opposite way of what comes naturally to him.

Culbreath drove to his left for a left-handed layup off the glass for a three-point play that helped Millbrook hang on for a 61-58 Northwestern District win at a near capacity Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium.

"I'm not going to say he's ambidextrous, 'cause he's a right-hander, but he's comfortable going either way," Millbrook coach Scott Mankins said. "There's days where he'll do our shooting drills left-handed so he can go either way." And in a game that could have gone either way, it was Culbreath who once again came through in the clutch. (He sank two free throws with 17 seconds left in the first meeting on Jan. 14, giving the Pioneers a 65-63 victory.)

On Tuesday night, Culbreath scored 10 of his team-high 17 points in the second half, and his three-point play put the Pioneers ahead 60-56 with 1:16 left.

"I like to dribble left-handed, and I work on both hands," Culbreath said. "It's just execution. We worked our plays to get where we needed to be."

And thanks to Culbreath, the Pioneers (13-6, 6-1) find themselves comfortably in first place in the Northwestern District with a chance to lock up the regular season title with a win next Tuesday at Skyline.

James Wood junior Mel Savarese's jumper cut the Pioneers' lead to two, but Culbreath hit a free throw to put Millbrook's lead back to three (61-58) with 30 seconds left.

The Colonels (3-15, 0-6) had one last chance, and James Wood coach Al Smith called timeout just in time to prevent a turnover as freshman Ryland Williams' pass was stolen by Millbrook's Devin Call with 20 seconds left.

After a second timeout with 10 seconds left, Chris Skinner had an open 3-point look from the top of the arc, but his shot caught the front of the rim to end it.

"In the first game [against Millbrook] we had a shot to win, and tonight we had a nice, clean open look to tie, and both times we've come up a little bit short," Smith said. "That's just the way it is. I'm proud of the way these guys played. We're 3-15 now, but you wouldn't know it by the way these guys are playing."

The Colonels jumped on the Pioneers early, starting the game on a 9-0 run and forcing Mankins to call timeout just over three minutes into the contest.

Mankins repeated "every possession" as he lit into his team during the timeout, and the Pioneers responded.

Culbreath scored seven in the opening quarter, knocking down a 3-pointer with 1:50 left that helped Millbrook pull even 13-13 by the end of the period.

"We just had to wake up and play ball," Mankins said. "James Wood came out looking for a win, and in the first couple minutes, we were just going through the motions, playing not to lose instead of playing to win. Fortunately, we got back into it and survived."

James Wood went more than five minutes without a field goal late in the half, helping Millbrook take a 28-22 advantage at the break.

The Colonels opened the second half on an 8-0 run, getting a 3-pointer from Skinner (who led Wood with a game-high 21 points) and a three-point play from Williams that put Wood ahead 30-28 with 6:27 left in the third.

James Wood led by four after Chad Potter made two free throws, but Call made sure the Colonels' lead didn't last long.

After scoring just three points in the first half, Call scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, and his three-point play put Millbrook back on top 38-36 with 3:47 remaining.

Neither team led by more than two the rest of the third, and James Wood's David Alaniz knocked down two free throws with 13 seconds left to send the game into the fourth quarter tied 42-42.

Call and Culbreath combined for 14 of Millbrook's 19 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Pioneers hold on for another tough win against the Colonels.

Call said the team executed well in the second half, doing a good job of attacking the basket.

"We just had to play defense mainly and just get to the basket and be aggressive so we could get to the line," said Call, who went 7 for 8 from the free-throw line. "We knew they were going to foul us so we had to be strong with the ball."

Millbrook shot 74 percent (17 of 23) from the line and was 7 of 10 in the fourth quarter.

Junior Boomer Kaczmarzewski joined Culbreath and Call in double figures with 11 points.

Mason Smith, who was limited by two early fouls in the first half, scored 11 for the Colonels, and Williams added 10.