Reed fires Millbrook girls to district crown

By WALT MOODY | The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — With the wide swath that Millbrook has cut through its girls’ basketball opponents this season, it would seem that a Northwestern District regular-season title and a Class 4 regional playoff berth would be a foregone conclusion.

The Pioneers made it official Friday, doing what they had all season with an 81-40 romp against the Colonels at Casey Gymnasium.

Erika Reed scored 19 of her game-high 28 points in the first half as Millbrook (18-0, 11-0 district) opened up a 31-point halftime lead on Senior Night.

The Pioneers cruised despite missing one of those key seniors. Forward Haile McDonald missed the game with an apparent right knee injury suffered Tuesday against Handley. Millbrook coach Erick Green Sr., said the Pioneers are still awaiting a final prognosis on McDonald, who averages 14.4 points and leads the area with 8.4 rebounds per game.

Point guard Maddie Green and Reed said not having McDonald on the floor Friday was strange.

“For me, it’s really different,” said senior Green, who scored 16 points. “Me and Haile have played together since we were little and I have always had her on the court with me. It hurts for me not having her out there, but we’re on the same mission.”

“That’s a huge difference for us,” added Reed. “As a team, we have to rally around that. It’s awful that it happened, but we have to rally around it and we have to work with what we have now.”

Millbrook, which has beaten all but one of its opponents by more than 31 points this season, has plenty of weapons and one that is especially dangerous is Reed. Coming off a 10-for-11 performance against Handley, Reed duplicated that feat against the Colonels. She drilled 5 of 6 3-point attempts against the Colonels, who she scored 28 points against in an 89-39 win earlier this season.

“I guess it’s just how it happens,” said Reed, who has made 20 of 26 field goal attempts against James Wood. “Some days you can shoot and some days you can’t.”

Her coach sees something more. Reed leads the Colonels with a 17.2 scoring average and is making 56 percent of her shots, including 48 percent from 3-point range. On Friday, she also had team highs with seven assists and seven steals.

“She’s on a mission,” Erick Green said. “She’s playing hungry. She’s playing good team basketball. I just want her to continue to do what she’s doing.”

And point guard Green says Reed will keep getting chances.

“Erika is a great shooter,” Maddie Green said. “She and I play so well together. When I know she’s on fire, I’m making plays to get her the ball. ... We’re on a mission to get to the states and with her shooting like that, we can definitely do it.”

James Wood (14-6, 5-5) was game early and trailed 5-4 before Reed’s second 3-pointer triggered a 17-0 run. During the key spurt, James Wood turned the ball over several times against the Pioneers’ trapping defense and finished the period with 11 turnovers. The Pioneers built the lead as high as 31-8 before Wood’s Makayla Firebaugh scored the final two baskets of the period to make in 31-12.

“We just knew that the pressure would cause some chaos and that would work to our advantage,” said Reed, who had 11 points in the period. “We did have to switch up and move Amari [Anthony] down low. We just came out like we always do and put pressure on and caused chaos.”

James Wood fought back and did play the Pioneers even through most of the second period. Savannah Swanner had three points in a 5-0 run that made the score 40-22 with 3:14 left before the half.

But Millbrook surged again. Anthony’s putback started a 13-0 outburst to close the half. Anthony (who finished with 19) had six points and Reed had five in the run which pushed the margin back to 53-22.

Firebaugh had six points as James Wood outscored Millbrook 11-10 in the third quarter, but the Pioneers seniors opened up the fourth quarter with a 17-5 run. Reed netted nine points, while Green scored five and Anthony had three as the lead ballooned to 80-38. Erick Green took his seniors out with 2:30 left as they received warm applause.

Maddie Green had 16 points, six assists and three steals. Anthony added seven rebounds and six assists. Hailey Paige came off the bench and scored seven points.

“I thought we played well in spurts,” Erick Green said. “We jumped up and then we got a little lazy, but picked it back up. Our press is working real well, causing people problems. Offensively, I thought we shot the ball pretty well. There’s always room for improvement.”

Firebaugh had 13 to pace the Colonels, who are battling for the No. 3 seed in the district tournament. Amber Wooldridge added nine and Brenna Prunty had eight off the bench.

Millbrook has three more regular-season games scheduled before the district playoffs start and the Pioneers can use the time to prepare for the possibility of playing without McDonald.

“We’re going to miss her, but we’re going to add to what we have,” Erick Green said. “We have a lot of athletic kids who bring different things to the table.”

“We need to keep the momentum that we have,” Reed said. “We’re playing really good team basketball right now.

“Our attitude is so positive. That plays a big factor — your attitude is everything. We are extremely blessed of what we’ve accomplished so far and this is not the end of it.”

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