Millbrook girls rout James Wood

By ROBERT STOCKS | The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — After dropping its first game of the season to Sherando on Jan. 7, Millbrook’s girls’ basketball team put more emphasis on its defense.

Since then, the Pioneers are a perfect 7-0 and have held opponents to 50 points or less in six of those seven victories.

Millbrook’s defense set the tone against James Wood on Tuesday night as the Pioneers limited the Colonels to just 17 first-half points. Millbrook junior point guard Maddie Green scored a game-high 24 points to lead four teammates in double figures in a 79-50 Northwestern District rout of James Wood at the Pioneers’ Casey Gymnasium.

“Our defense, that’s what we’ve focused on, pressuring the ball and getting turnovers,” said Green, who made five 3-pointers and also had five rebounds and three steals. “That was our main goal [tonight].”

Millbrook (19-1, 6-1 Northwestern) totaled 14 steals and James Wood (12-6, 3-3 district) committed 31 turnovers. The Pioneers never trailed, building a commanding lead in the first half.

Green had the hot hand early, nailing three 3-pointers — all three from the left wing — to put Millbrook on top 18-4 midway through the opening quarter. Erika Reed sank a pair of free throws, giving the Pioneers their largest lead of the quarter, 20-4, with 3:55 left.

The Colonels closed the quarter on an 8-4 spurt, scoring half of those points on four free throws by senior Amanda Christian to cut the Pioneers’ lead 24-12 at the end of the first quarter.

From there, however, Millbrook opened the second quarter with 12-unanswered points. Reed, who finished with 17 points, five steals, four rebounds and three assists, connected on a pair of 3-pointers, the second capping the run and pushing the Pioneers’ lead to 36-12 with 5:00 left.

Millbrook junior Haile McDonald, who had 26 points and 20 rebounds in the Pioneers’ 88-61 win over James Wood on Jan. 21, scored nine points in the second quarter, including a 3-point play that stretched Millbrook’s lead to 43-14 with 2:46 remaining.

With 2:28 left in the half, McDonald injured her left ankle after she leapt for a rebound. She needed to be helped off the court and watched the second half from the bench.

McDonald, who discussed a verbal commitment to Division-I Appalachian State on Tuesday, was limping after the game, but said she’s OK.

“It’s my ankle. [A James Wood player] fell on my knee and my ankle [rolled] in, so it was just that combination,” said McDonald, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds in 12 minutes and 15 seconds of action. “We’ve got [plenty of time] between games, so it’s good.”

McDonald and Reed combined for 17 of the Pioneers’ 26 second-quarter points, stretching the lead to 50-17 at the half. Millbrook limited the Colonels to just five points on 2-of-14 shooting from the field in the second quarter.

Millbrook junior Amari Anthony finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Pioneers coach Erick Green Sr. said his team is committed to playing full-court basketball now.

“All we do in practice now is press and push the basketball up and down the court,” Green said. “It kind of gets everybody involved and everybody can make plays and use their athletic ability.

“It’s been very helpful to us. They’re starting to listen to me, and they know that defense wins championships. It’s all about heart and hustle.”

With 2:15 left in the third, Green sank a pair of free throws to give the Pioneers their largest lead, a 40-point advantage (67-27), and Green Sr. subbed in five new players at that point.

“Some of my bench players came in and gave us some good minutes defensively and knocked down a few shots,” Green Sr. said. “We’re getting deeper at the right time.”

The Colonels never cut the Pioneers’ lead to less than 30 until the closing minutes of the contest.

James Wood shot 15 of 47 (32 percent) from the field and 3 of 14 from 3-point range.

“We couldn’t hit anything tonight and it just wasn’t working out for us,” said James Wood freshman guard Makayla Firebaugh, who led the Colonels with 19 points, 13 of which came in the second half. “They could hit every shot they threw up.

“A team like [Millbrook] — if we fall too far behind we’re really going to have to fight so hard to get back. Once they get a lead, they won’t stop pushing.”

Christian added 11 points, going 6 for 10 from the free-throw line, and Dy’Avean Sloane came off the bench to score nine for the Colonels. Hannah Burke led Wood with seven rebounds.

James Wood coach Krista Crites said it’s tough to battle back from a big deficit against a team like Millbrook.

“I thought we kind of were flat on offense and [had] not very smart passes in the first half,” Crites said. “It wasn’t anything that they did that we haven’t seen before. It’s more what we did wrong.

“They’re a good basketball team. We knew they would come out like that, so we anticipated that and it’s about minimizing their runs. But [the Pioneers] are a good basketball team, and they just play hard.”

— Contact Robert Stocks at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1