Pioneer Girls Beat Colonels 61-54 To Reach Final

Posted: February 20, 2015
By JERRY HOLSWORTH
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — After nipping James Wood on buzzer-beaters twice in regular season play, Millbrook relied on a clutch fourth quarter by Erika Reed to topple the Colonels 61-54 in the semifinals of the Conference 21 girls’ basketball tournament Thursday night.

The win sets up a showdown between the No. 1 Pioneers (19-5) and No. 2 Loudoun County (22-1) tonight at Millbrook (at 7 p.m.) for the conference championship. For the Colonels (17-7), it was a disappointing end to an otherwise successful season.

“Every time we’ve played James Wood this year it’s been a great game and we didn’t expect anything different tonight,” Millbrook coach Kevin Barr said. “They’re a very good team, and that’s why they’re in the semifinals. It’s unfortunate that one of us had to go home with a loss. Both teams played really well. We just did a little bit more at the end. It was a good game.”

The opening quarter, however, looked like anything but a Pioneer victory. Wood used an aggressive, ball-hawking defense to completely stymie Millbrook. The Pioneers shot a dismal 1 of 12 from the field and committed seven first-quarter turnovers.

While Millbrook struggled, the Colonels exploded behind the play of Danielle Rizzari to take a commanding 13-4 lead into the second period.

“We knew that we could play with them,” Colonel coach Krista Crites said. “There was never any doubt about that. We just needed to play aggressive defense. We knew that we had to have our hands in their face or they were going to knock down easy buckets. I thought that our defense was very good the whole game.”

Rizzari nailed a 3-pointer with the opening shot of the game, then followed that with another 3-pointer with 6:44 left in the period.

With the Colonels seemingly in control, the Pioneers completely turned their offensive woes around in the second quarter. Joniesha Cain was the key weapon for Millbrook, hitting three 3-pointers and scoring 11 of her 15 points during the period.

Cain, however, wasn’t only Pioneer to light up the scoreboard. Lauren Reed nailed a 3-pointer and scored seven points for Millbrook, and Maddie Green, who was held scoreless in the first quarter, scored on a pair of field goals.

“I really didn’t say much to the team at the end of the first quarter,” Barr said. “They knew that they hadn’t come out and played the way they needed to in the first quarter. We’re a good shooting team. It was just a matter of getting adjusted to the game. I knew that we were going to start making our shots.”

Wood tried desperately to keep up with the hot Pioneers, but Millbrook finished the quarter by outscoring Wood 28-10 to take a 32-25 advantage into the half after trailing by nine at the start of the second quarter.

If Millbrook thought that it had held off Wood’s best effort heading into the second half, the Colonels had a rude awakening for them. Wood turned the tables on the Pioneers’ 3-point shooting in the second period by hitting three of its own in the third quarter.

Rizzari again led the way with a pair of 3s, and Keiana Brooks, who only scored four points in the first half, knocked down a 3-pointer and finished the quarter with five points.

Kaitlyn Crane also got into the act with four points for Wood in the period.

While Wood was hot, Millbrook was only able to connect on 4 of 11 field-goal attempts and trailed the Colonels 44-41 heading into the final eight minutes of play.

With a berth in the title game on the line with just one quarter left, Erika Reed found the energy and drive to lead the Pioneers to victory.

Battling stomach flu all week, it wasn’t easy for the Millbrook freshman.

“She was really sick this week,” Barr said. “We took her out early in the game a couple of times to give her a breather. In the fourth she really stepped up her play. I’m very proud of the way she came through for us. It’s not easy for a freshman to do that in a big game.”

With Wood leading 46-43 with 5:22 remaining, Erika Reed nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Pioneers ahead 49-46. With just 1:27 left in the game and Millbrook leading by a slim 51-50 margin, Reed converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to extend the Pioneer lead to 54-50. She finished the night with 16 points, including 12 in the final period.

“Once I got to moving around on the court I began to feel better,” Erika Reed said. “We needed those points to win, and we all pulled through as a team to get this win. There’s really no secret to making baskets like that. It’s just a matter of practice and more practice.”

Despite Reed’s heroics, the Colonels had their chances in the final period, but a 3-for-14 performance from the field and missed free throws late in the game doomed James Wood.

“We just didn’t make our free throws and hit our field goals in the fourth quarter and they did,” Crites said. “At the end we had to foul and they stepped to the free throw line and made their free throws.”

Lauren Reed, who made her presence felt in all four quarters, led Millbrook with 18 points and also had four steals and three rebounds.

Rizzari led James Wood with 19 points, including five 3-pointers. Brooks also scored in double figures with 11 and had six assists, three steals and three rebounds.