Millbrook girls top James Wood to repeat as Class 4 Northwestern District champs

WINCHESTER — The Millbrook girls’ basketball team was up 10 points with 1:54 left in the third quarter on Friday against James Wood, but the Pioneers faced a precarious position — three starters and their top player off the bench all had four fouls.

The Pioneers didn’t win each of their first 13 district games by at least 19 points because they’re top heavy, though.

With freshman guard Jenna McClung knocking down three 3-pointers and one of the remaining starters, Jalyn Abernathy, playing strong on both ends of the floor, the Pioneers outscored James Wood 13-9 over the next four minutes and 11 seconds before they got the first of those starters back in the game.

When it was all over, top-seeded Millbrook had a 75-64 win over No. 2 James Wood to complete a perfect district season. The Pioneers (21-3) earned their second straight Class 4 Northwestern District tournament title and won a district/conference tournament title for the fourth season in a row.

“It goes to show you, we’re a deep team,” said Millbrook coach Erick Green, whose team needed to dig deep with just a 33-31 lead at halftime. “I don’t rely on one player to win basketball games. It just shows that the next person steps up and takes advantage of the opportunity when they get a chance to play.

“That’s what Jenna did today, [junior] Vanessa [Cooper] did today. We got in foul trouble, they stepped up. That’s what they’re capable of doing. They played team basketball. They came in, they know the system. We moved the basketball and found the open man, and they knocked the shots down. That’s what it’s all about.”

With the win, Millbrook will host Dulles District No. 2 seed Woodgrove at 6 p.m. in Tuesday’s Region 4C semifinals. James Wood (16-8) — which received an outstanding 30-point, 11-rebound performance from Makayla Firebaugh — will play at Dulles No. 1 seed Loudoun Valley at 6 p.m in Tuesday’s other semifinal game. The two semifinal winners will clinch Class 4 state tournament berths and play in the region championship on Thursday.

Abernathy (17 points) led six players who scored at least seven points for Millbrook, which made 30 of 64 shots.

Avery O’Roke (fourth foul with 2:09 left in the third quarter) had 14 points. Ali Hauck (fourth at 3:01 mark of third) had 13 points, 12 rebounds and three steals. McClung had nine points. Top bench player Cianna Harrison (fourth with 2:39 left in third) had eight points and returned at the start of the fourth quarter to aid the Millbrook effort. And Hailey Paige (fourth foul at 1:54 mark of third quarter) — whose energetic play on both ends of the floor sparked Millbrook at the start of the second half — had seven points and three blocks.

McClung’s marksmanship was particularly huge. Twenty-one seconds after Paige became the fourth Pioneer sent to the bench with four fouls, she hit a 3-pointer with 1:33 left in the third quarter to make it 53-40 Pioneers.

James Wood then surged with six straight points, capped by a layup from Brenna Prunty (13 points). But five seconds before the end of the quarter, McClung hit another 3-pointer to boost Millbrook’s lead to 56-46 entering the fourth quarter.

McClung then hit another 3-pointer with 6:49 left in the fourth (all three makes were from the left corner) to make it 61-49. The Pioneers led 63-49 when it got the first of its four-foul starters back in O’Roke with 5:43 left. McClung came in for O’Roke, but stayed in the game with O’Roke’s return and continued to play well, helping Millbrook add to its lead with her defense and transition play.

As Green said, he wasn’t surprised by what McClung did. She came into the game having made 15 of her 30 3-point attempts this season.

“My teammates found me and got me the ball,” McClung said. “I knew we needed more points to put up on the board. I provided that with the help of everyone else.”

In the next two minutes, Hauck and Paige would also return to the game. Paige checked in with the Pioneers up 67-51 before fouling out with Millbrook up 72-54 with 2:12 left.

Paige got a warm hand from the crowd when she left, and with good reason. Paige had to sit the last 6:25 of the first half after picking up her third foul and the Pioneers up 21-20.

At the half, Millbrook led only 33-31, and Paige demonstrated her pent-up aggression by unleashing a furious assault to start the second half. With 6:40 left in the third quarter, she grabbed a rebound, ran the floor and put up a shot. She missed, but Hauck’s putback made it 35-33.

With 6:15 left, Paige had a putback as part of a traditional three-point play to make it 38-33. She blocked Prunty to start a fastbreak the other way that ended with an Abernathy layup with 3:50 left in the third, then blocked Prunty again to start another fastbreak that ended with an Abernathy layup with 2:28 left. Abernathy finished off the three-point play with a free throw to make it 50-40 with 2:28 left in the third quarter.

“I was anxious to get back in,” Paige said. “I wanted to do my best and help my team.”

Her effort helped give Millbrook the breathing room it needed to survive.

Though it was a loss, James Wood coach Krista Crites couldn’t have been happier. Millbrook beat the Colonels by 28 and 34 points, respectively, in their two regular-season matchups, and led 41-8 at the half in last week’s win. Firebaugh was held to single digits in each of the first two matchups (a total of 11 points) but exploded Friday. Jenna Burkhamer added eight points for the Colonels.

“We’re playing great basketball,” Crites said. “I’m perfectly happy with my team’s performance tonight. We did what we needed to do. Makayla stepped up huge, which is something that didn’t happen the first two games. She handled the pressure much better tonight. Olivia [Miller] once again played a great game. I’m proud of them. It was a great game.”

Paige was glad to keep Millbrook on top of the district after such a successful regular season.

“It means a lot to keep the tradition going,” she said. “I’m just really happy.”

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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