Reed nets 28 as unbeaten Millbrook girls bounce James Wood

WINCHESTER — Erika Reed says the goal this season for the Millbrook girls’ basketball team is pretty simple.

“We want to blow everybody out and win states,” the senior guard said.

Through 11 games, the Pioneers are right on track.

Unbeaten Millbrook continued its impressive start Tuesday, hammering a good James Wood squad 89-39 at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium.

The Pioneers (11-0, 5-0 Northwestern District) now have beaten seven of their foes by 50 or more points. Their average margin of victory is 48.5 points and no opponent has come within 31 points of last season’s Class 4 semifinalists.

“We have a point to prove,” Reed said. “We’re coming for everybody. We’re not slacking off.”

Reed, who came into the contest leading the Pioneers in scoring (16.9) and the area in 3-point percentage (43 percent), set the tone from the first possession.

With the smaller Colonels packing the inside with a 2-3 zone against posts Haile McDonald, Amari Anthony and Ali Hauck, that left some room for Reed. The senior responded by drilling her first 3-pointer just 15 seconds into the contest. She’d add another less than a minute later and after a Wood basket, she’d swish her third straight from the left side of the Colonels’ zone to make it 9-2. Reed would nail another before the period was complete. Reed had 14 points in the quarter as the Pioneers raced to a 29-9 lead.

“We came in really prepared,” said Reed, who would finish with a game-high 28 points and sink 6 of 8 3-point attempts. “This is a rivalry game and we want to right from go to step on their throats. We came and were ready. We played as a team and we executed. They definitely wanted to play that zone to push back on Haile, Amari and Ali, which made it easier for the guards to shoot.”

“They made a mistake of sagging off Erika a lot today,” point guard Maddie Green said. “We just kept feeding her the ball.”

Reed has made a lot of teams pay, thus far. She is now averaging 17.9 points per game, while shooting 54.5 percent from the floor and 47 percent from 3-point range.

“Erika, right now is one of the best players in the league,” said Millbrook coach Erick Green Sr. “She’s shooting the ball better than anybody around here. She’s having a great season. I hope she can carry that on to March because it really makes a big difference in the game when she’s shooting the ball like that.”

The Pioneers’ defense also makes a big difference.

In the opening half, Millbrook was able to frustrate James Wood’s Makayla Firebaugh and Amber Wooldridge, the area’s top two scorers who were combining for 39.8 points entering the game. Wooldridge had four points and Firebaugh was held scoreless in the first two quarters as Millbrook’s lead extended to 46-17 at the half.

Reed netted 19 points, while McDonald had 10 and Anthony had seven at the break.

Green would score 11 of her 15 points in the third quarter as the Pioneers continued to add to the margin, which was 76-32 at the period’s end.

Green says she enjoys having so many options as the Pioneers’ point guard. Anthony finished with 16 points and McDonald had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“It’s easy honestly,” said the senior, who had eight assists. “I make them look good and they make me look good. I don’t really need to score. That’s not my job. My job is to get them the ball and that’s what I do.”

The Pioneers starters played most of the third quarter and about half of the fourth period. Green says that his team remains driven to attain pre-game goals and that’s how they stay so hungry each game.

“We’re not trying to embarrass people, but we have goals that we set as a team, points we want to score and points we want to allow,” he said. “That’s what we do. That’s how I challenge the kids. ... We’re trying to meet those goals as well as win the basketball game.”

“They’re just a very good basketball team,” James Wood coach Krista Crites said of Millbrook. “They’re all-around good offensively and defensively. We just didn’t play very well tonight. Our shooting game was not on.”

Wooldridge scored 12 of her team-high 16 points in the second half for the Colonels. Emma Van Horn had eight, all in the first half.

Crites was not down on her team, which features six sophomores, after it suffered its first district loss in three decisions.

“We’re so young,” she said. “We’re still a good basketball team. We’re 10-2. We don’t take this is as a reflection of the talent we have. They’ll come in tomorrow and work hard and continue to get better and hopefully be able to compete at the end of the season.

“It is a learning curve for them,” she added. “They understand that there’s the good and the bad and they learn from the bad and appreciate the good. They work hard every game.”

Firebaugh, who came in averaging 21.2 points per game, faced pressure defense from Anthony throughout. The sophomore finished with three points, on a 3-pointer to open the final period.

“She’s been told that every night that defenses are going to come after her,” Crites said. “Eventually as she gets older, she’s going to learn that’s more out of respect for her game and her as an athlete. Instead of cowering away from that, I think she’s an amazing enough player that she’s going to learn how to overcome those types of defenses and that type of aggressiveness.”

Green was impressed by how his team played against the Colonels’ top scorers.

“The defensive effort they put in tonight, it showed me that, hey, they are ready to take on some pretty good teams,” Green said. “We’ve got some pretty good teams coming up. It’s going to be exciting for the next couple of months.”

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