James Wood girls force playoff for district title

WINCHESTER — The Class 4 Northwestern District girls’ basketball title has been a two-horse race from start to finish.

None of the other six district teams have been within sniffing distance of Millbrook and James Wood in the standings.

After Friday’s regular-season finale between the two teams, the race is a dead heat.

James Wood, on an emotional Senior Night, took control in the first half and staved off a late Millbrook comeback to force a Monday playoff game for the district title with a 67-59 triumph against the previously unbeaten and 11-time defending champion Pioneers.

Both teams, who finished with 13-1 district marks will square off again at 7 p.m. at Sherando with the regular-season title and a Region 4C playoff berth on the line.

Brenna Prunty (23), Makayla Firebaugh (17) and Brynna Nesselrodt (16) led a balanced attack for the Colonels, who avenged a 68-45 loss at Millbrook earlier this season.

“We did everything well,” said James Wood coach Krista Crites, who defeated the Pioneers for the first time in her six seasons as head coach. “We boxed out. We made our free throws. We had a couple of lapses taking care of the ball, but for the most part we took care of it. We had multiple scoring contributors.

“Makayla said it best in the locker room. We played team basketball. We knew that we could do it. They came in pumped and ready to go. They did everything I told them all season we could do.”

“It feels the best ever, especially on Senior Night” said Prunty, whose steal and layup with 40 seconds remaining halted a Pioneers run that had cut a 12-point fourth quarter deficit to three points. “The whole team played together. It’s such a good feeling. We’re so happy.”

The Pioneers (21-1) struggled throughout the contest to consistently score against a 1-2-2 zone, with Avery O’Roke providing the only consistent scoring with 33 points. Pioneers standout Ali Hauck was limited to about 10 minutes in the game with foul trouble before she fouled out with 2:02 left.

“Personally, I believe I got outcoached tonight,” said Millbrook’s Erick Green Sr. “They had a good scheme and I didn’t make the right adjustments. I give James Wood credit. They played good basketball and had a good game plan. I give them all of the credit. The deserved the win and they won.”

The two district heavyweights came out throwing haymakers from the start.

The first quarter was a see-saw battle as the teams exchanged the lead nine different times. Four straight points by O’Roke gave the Pioneers a 17-16 lead, but the Colonels closed the quarter with a 6-2 run, led by four points from Prunty.

James Wood (20-2) took the momentum into the second quarter, opening with a 6-0 run with four points from Firebaugh, and they continued to pour it on. Jenny Kerns’ steal and layup triggered a 7-0 run that pushed the Colonels’ lead to 37-24 with 3:51 left in the period.

Millbrook fought back from there. O’Roke netted five points and Emily Magee nailed a long 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 37-32 at the break.

James Wood extended the lead to 52-44 after three quarters and opened the final period with a 4-0 run to push the lead to 56-44 with 6:49 left.

The Pioneers proved tough to put away. Led by six points from O’Roke, they scratched back to within three points. O’Roke’s two free throws with 1:15 left made it a one-possession game at 62-59.

The Colonels turned it over, but then Prunty came up with the big play. She stole the ball near the right sidelines, drove the court and muscled in her layup with 40 ticks remaining. Millbrook would misfire from there and the Colonels would go 3-for-4 from the line in the final 30 seconds.

“We were definitely starting to panic there for a minute, but once we got back on defense that was where we started to getting the game back under control,” Prunty said. “I knew that I needed to steal it and play the best defense that I could and not let them score. I tried my hardest to get the ball and it paid off. ... It was definitely a huge relief.”

‘We knew they were going to make a run,” Crites said. “They are good. They were 21-0 and knew they were going to make a run. Basketball is a game of runs. We knew we had to maintain them and that we were capable of making those, too, which we did.”

Nesselrodt, a freshman, scored six points in the fourth and made 4 of 4 free throws in the final two minutes. “Nesselrodt, she doesn’t play like a freshman,” Crites said. “She definitely did not play like it tonight.”

Both teams now scrap again Monday. The winner clinches the Region berth, while the loser will have to fight its way into the regionals with a high finish in the district tournament, which begins Thursday.

Green vows to be better prepared for the title game. “I hope that it is a wake-up call, to see that every game you’ve got to bring it,” he said. “It’s the same with me I’ve got to be better prepared as a coach.

“I’ve been cruising for a long time. If you cruise for awhile somebody catches up with you. I need to go back to the drawing board and prepare these kids better so the next time we play we can hopefully get the win.”

The Colonels are under no illusion that it will be easy to dethrone the Pioneers.

“I think Monday is going to be a fight, just like tonight,” Crites said. “At the end, it’s going to be who wants it more, who hustles more and who makes the big shots. I know he’s going to be ready to come after us. I’m just going to enjoy the moment for now and get started [today] for practice and prepare for Monday.”

“We’re going to have to work really hard [today] in practice and keep the same intensity,” added Prunty, who along with Firebaugh, Kerns and Sue Carter were honored on Senior Night. “We need to understand that we’re such a good team when we play together. We need to do the same things that we did [Friday] on Monday.”

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