James Wood girls knock off Millbrook

WINCHESTER — For Brynna Nesselrodt, the lone senior on the James Wood High School girls' basketball team, the setting for her senior game celebration had to be somewhat of a disappointment.

After playing most of her career at Shirley Gymnasium, the Colonels were forced to move their regular-season finale to Admiral Byrd Middle School because of some issues with the bleachers.

The game itself is one that she will remember for years to come.

Nesselrodt scored a game-high 19 points (15 in the second half) to lead the Colonels to a convincing 53-32 victory over rival Millbrook, denying the Pioneers the Class 4 Northwestern District regular-season title for the time being.

Millbrook (17-5, 10-2) must now face Sherando (18-2, 10-2) at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Handley with a Region 4C playoff berth and the No. 1 seed in the district tournament on the line.

"We knew that I had to play inside more because I shot from outside so much the last game against them," Nesselrodt said. "We just switched it up and put me in the middle of the floor to run it kind of.

"[This is a confidence boost] because we've been so young, and we're the underdogs because I'm the only senior. It's been good to be a leader on this team. We have a lot of fun."

The Colonels (15-7, 9-3) enter the Northwestern District Tournament as one of the hottest teams, having won eight straight. Their last loss was Jan. 13 in their first game against Millbrook.

The Pioneers were once again playing without their leading scorer Hannah Stephanites (15.0 ppg), who was lost to an injury the previous Friday against Sherando.

The Pioneers got off to a good start. After James Wood opened with a basket, Millbrook answered with the next six points and had several opportunities to add to its lead. However, turnovers and missed shots did in the Pioneers.

In the first half alone the Pioneers had 19 turnovers and shot only 6-for-20 from the floor.

James Wood closed the first quarter on a 10-0 run to grab a 12-6 lead, one it never would relinquish. All five starters scored for the Colonels in the first quarter.

Nesselrodt opened the second quarter scoring, which was followed by a field goal and a free throw from Jolie Jenkins to give the Colonels their biggest lead of the first half at 17-6.

The Pioneers answered with a 6-0 run and trimmed the James Wood lead to 22-15 at the break.

Jenkins led James Wood in the first half with seven points and Madison Shirley added six points on a pair of 3-pointers. Valentina Burrill and Jaliah Jackson had four points each at the break for the Pioneers.

James Wood's defense held the Pioneers offense to under 10 points in every quarter and the Colonels cut down on their turnovers in the third quarter to extend their lead.

James Wood opened the third quarter on a 12-4 run and the Colonels took what was their biggest lead to that point (34-19) on a pair of Nesselrodt free throws with 2:15 left in the period.

Burrill scored on a putback to cut the lead to 34-21 for Millbrook but the Colonels answered with back-to-back baskets by Nayah Edwards and Josie Russell to make it 38-21. The lead was 39-23 after three quarters.

"We've tried to make Brynna a more diversified player and not just a three-point shooter which has made her game explode," James Wood coach Sanford Silver said. "We're a red hot team going into [the district tournament] and down the stretch that's what you're looking for. We started off a little shaky, but again it's not how you start it's how you finish."

"Hats off to Millbrook they're an outstanding team and our prayers go out to their main guard [Stephanites] who's been out injured."

Nesselrodt also had seven rebounds, four steals and three assists. Shirley added 10 points and seven steals, while Jenkins (seven steals, five blocks) and Russell (seven rebounds) added nine points each.

The third-seeded Colonels will host No. 6 Fauquier at a location to be determined in the opening round of the district tournament on either Thursday or Friday.

"Being honest, beating Sherando (40-38) a couple of weeks ago gave us the ability and the understanding and that's the key to build the morale up," Silver added. "We just hope that we can keep the ride going."

Jackson led Millbrook with 11 points, while Burrill added 10.