McDonald leads Pioneer girls past Colonels

By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI | The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — There aren’t many teams that can put up points the way the Millbrook girls’ basketball team can, and the Pioneers’ explosiveness and versatility was on full display Saturday evening.

A Millbrook team that had already scored 70 points or more five times put up its highest point total of the season in an 88-61 Conference 21 West and Northwestern District victory over James Wood at the Colonels’ Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium.

Haile McDonald (career-highs in points and rebounds with 26 and 20, respectively) dominated in and around the paint early with 11 points in the first three minutes and 29 seconds as the Pioneers (16-1, 3-1 district, 2-1 conference) opened up a 17-8 lead.

Erika Reed (15 points, eight assists, six steals) and Maddie Green (14 points, nine assists, two steals) each hit 3-pointers as Millbrook expanded its lead from 33-28 with 2:30 left in the second quarter to 43-30 at halftime.

With the Pioneers up 56-41 in the third quarter, they scored their next seven points over four possessions, all as a result of offensive rebounds. (Of Millbrook’s 45 rebounds, 24 were offensive.)

Then in a 9-0 run over the last minute of the third quarter to make it 72-45, the Pioneers scored in four different ways. Amari Anthony (20 points, nine rebounds, five steals) finished off a traditional 3-pointer, hit two free throws 12 seconds later, Reed hit a 3-pointer, then Reed stole the ball and fed Anthony for another bucket.

Millbrook doesn’t really allow opponents to pick their poison. They give them a dose of whatever is most readily available.

“We don’t really have one particular person who does all the work for us,” said Reed, who was part of a 33-for-69 Millbrook shooting performance. “We don’t have one particular play or one particular set that we do. We’re kind of all-around.

“All-around, we’re a good team, and we work together. If someone’s not shooting well, we find the hot hand. We’re good at that.”

Millbrook certainly did a good job of finding McDonald’s hot hand early. McDonald (10-of-16 shooting) hit all five of her shots to give the Pioneers a 17-8 lead with 4:31 left in the first quarter. Her free throw to complete a three-point play was Millbrook’s 17th point.

But James Wood (11-4, 2-2 district, 2-1 conference) continuously fought back Saturday.

Down 8-0, the Colonels cut their deficit to 10-8. After falling behind 17-8, the Colonels grabbed their only lead of the game at 22-21 on a layup by Karman Grimes 22 seconds into the second quarter. And after surrendering a 10-0 run to fall behind 31-22, James Wood climbed to within 33-28 after Jennifer Kerns scored following a steal with 2:30 left in the first half.

Nineteen seconds later, the James Wood defense collapsed on McDonald in the paint after she jumped to catch an inbounds pass from beneath the Colonel basket. McDonald popped back off the floor as soon as she grabbed it and threw a pass to Reed in the left corner.

Reed knocked down a three-pointer to set the stage for the 10-2 run to end the half, and Millbrook’s lead would never dip below 13 in the second half.

“After the first quarter, they started to double [me], and tried to triple as well,” McDonald said. “I had to just look for those open passes, and she was there.”

Millbrook needed everything it had in its offensive arsenal Saturday.

Millbrook coach Erick Green Sr. said he knew James Wood — which received a career-best 23 points (as well as 12 rebounds and four assists) from freshman guard Makayla Firebaugh — was capable of putting up a lot of points. But after holding its previous two opponents under 30 points, Green said he would have liked a stronger defensive performance from his team, even if the Colonels did only make 32.3 percent of their shots (21 of 65) and did turn the ball over 17 times.

“Our goal is to hold every team we play to 30 points or less,” Green said. “[My players have] got to do a lot of extra running because they gave up [61 points] tonight. They owe me 20-some line drills. That’s the challenge I bring to them.

“But offensively, we can score from anywhere on the floor. I tell the kids keep being aggressive offensively, and it will be difficult for teams to stop us.”

Until that 10-2 run to close the half, it looked like James Wood had a legitimate shot at knocking off the Pioneers. Though Saturday’s loss was a rare one this year for the Colonels, James Wood coach Krista Crites was pleased.

“I thought we played an excellent basketball game,” Crites said. “I thought my kids fought for 32 minutes. They played great against a good basketball team. They hustled and they worked hard.

“I thought we did a much better job of moving the ball offensively. It was more of a team effort tonight. We were obviously out-matched height-wise underneath, but I thought my girls did a good job underneath holding their own.”

Firebaugh has been a source of consistency for James Wood this year, but Kerns, James Wood’s other freshman guard, made a big difference. Millbrook scored baskets off turnovers on the Colonels’ first two possessions, but Kerns was inserted into the game at point guard a minute in and immediately got James Wood into a groove on offense.

Kerns said she knew McDonald would be tough for her teammates to deal with, so she tried to limit McDonald’s impact by driving and passing to certain spots on the floor.

“When I drove in, I knew where Makayla and Amanda [Christian] would be,” said Kerns, who finished with three assists and three steals.

Also for James Wood, Hannah Arnold had 11 points and 10 rebounds, Amber Wooldridge had nine points and five assists, Christian had eight points and six rebounds, and Hannah Burke had six rebounds.

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