Pioneer girls hammer Colonels, earn regional berth

By ROBERT STOCKS | The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — With a regional berth and the season hinging on the outcome of Monday night’s Conference 21 West tournament semifinal, the Millbrook girls’ basketball team left no doubt.

In the first eight minutes, the Pioneers’ starting five scored almost as many points as James Wood finished with as a team.

The third-seeded Pioneers, led by six players in double figures, dominated from the opening tip until the starters checked out of the contest midway through the third quarter in a 95-40 rout of the second-seeded Colonels in the Conference 21 West girls’ basketball tournament semifinals at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium on Monday night.

Junior point guard Maddie Green led the Pioneers with 22 points, and junior forward Amari Anthony added 20 points and 10 rebounds to help the Pioneers clinch a 4A West Region tournament berth and advance to Wednesday night’s conference championship.

Millbrook (23-1) will host No. 4 Woodgrove (12-12), a 48-41 winner over top-seeded Sherando in Monday’s other semifinal game, at 7 p.m. in Wednesday night’s championship game. Both teams will advance to the regional tournament regardless of Wednesday night’s outcome.

“We came in hungry and we came in on a mission,” said Millbrook coach Erick Green Sr. “We knew it was do or die, and we wanted to play again. The girls came with the attitude that they were going to hustle and get after it.”

The Pioneers most definitely got after it, setting season-highs for total points and points in the first half (71).

Millbrook opened the game on a 13-0 run, getting the first four from Anthony on putbacks, and Erika Reed capped the run with a layup following a steal and assist by Green.

James Wood senior Amanda Christian knocked down a 3-pointer to get the Colonels on the board with 6:20 left, but the Pioneers reeled off seven unanswered points from there.

Green converted three-point play after being fouled, Alison Hauck scored inside and Anthony added a layup to give the Pioneers a 20-3 advantage with 4:20 left in the opening quarter.

The Colonels (14-9) committed seven of their 39 turnovers in the first three minutes of the contest. James Wood totaled 13 turnovers in the first eight minutes as the Pioneers took a commanding 37-13 lead into the second quarter.

“It was just because of our defense and energy,” said Maddie Green, who had a team-high seven steals. “[Defense] was what we wanted to focus on coming into this game and that really contributed to this win.”

Anthony brought plenty of energy on both ends of the court. She scored 11 in the first quarter, and her three-point play following a putback capped a 14-2 Pioneer run that stretched the lead to 51-15 midway through the second quarter.

Green added 12 points in the second quarter, including two 3-pointers. Her second three pushed Millbrook’s lead to 65-18. Anthony added six points in the second quarter to finish with 18 at the half as the Pioneers led 71-19.

Anthony said she’d been struggling a bit lately and wanted to have a strong performance against the Colonels.

“I haven’t been playing good in our other [recent] games so I had to improve and step up,” Anthony said. “It was just our day.”

Erick Green Sr. said Anthony really sparked the team in the first half.

“Amari’s been in a slump, but she had a good groove tonight,” Green said. “She attacked the boards and used her athletic ability to jump over the top of people to get rebounds and put-ins. She played extremely well.”

The same could be said for the Pioneers’ starting five.

Freshman Alison Hauck scored all 11 of her points in the first half, Reed scored nine of her 11 in the first half, and Haile McDonald, who had a team-high 15 rebounds, scored 10 of her 12 points in the first 16 minutes. The Pioneers’ starters accounted for 70 of the team’s 71 first-half points.

Green said his team does a drill in practice where he challenges his players to get a certain amount of points in a certain amount of time, so he wasn’t stunned by the Pioneers’ first-half scoring output.

“I don’t think we’ve scored over 70 in a half before,” Green Sr. said. “It’s not that unusual for us because I know we’re capable of it.”

When Millbrook’s starters exited the game with 4:06 left in the third, the Pioneers led 80-27.

Millbrook sophomore guard Emme Crosen came off the bench to score 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. It’s the second straight game Crosen has finished in double figures.

Now, the Pioneers host a Woodgrove team it swept during the regular season, winning 47-38 in the first meeting in Purcellville on Dec. 15 and 74-46 at Millbrook in the regular-season finale on Feb. 8, in Wednesday’s night’s conference final.

“We hoped to have the championship at home,” Maddie Green said. “We’re happy.”

James Wood junior guard Amber Wooldridge led the Colonels with 10 points. She also had four rebounds and two steals.

James Wood coach Krista Crites and the Colonels’ players were not available for comment following the game.

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