January 15, 2011

By Robert Niedzwiecki
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER- Ordinarily, any team in the state would take a situation in which it outshoots Millbrook, the defending Group AA Division 3 girls' basketball champions, 50 percent to 31 percent.

But not when shot attempts come as few and as far between as they did for James Wood Friday night at Casey Gymnasium.

The Pioneers, ranked first in the Group AA Associated Press poll, defeated the Colonels 68-24 by forcing 56 turnovers.

It took Millbrook (12-0, 3-0 Northwestern) a while to find its rhythm on offense - the Pioneers had just four points after five minutes. But when a defense is this good, it's only a matter of time before the work on that end shows up on offense. Millbrook (25-of-80 shooting to James Wood's 10-of-20) which shut out James Wood (7-7, 0-2) in the first quarter and allowed four points in the second, scored 32 points in the last 11 minutes of the first half and cruised from there.

Essentially, the Pioneers took full advantage of their defensive play.

"I think we played good, and I think we're going to keep taking it out a notch every day," Pioneers coach Debby Sanders said.

"Our shots from the beginning weren't falling, but we're always talking about how defense is first," said Sara Mead, whose 13 steals were one more than her point total (12). "It's happened a lot. We get the ball on defense, and it turns into offense all the time. That's how we get a lot of our runs and points."

Courtni Green had the most, pouring in 22 points to go with 11 steals and nine rebounds.

James Wood was led by Shannan Thorne, who had seven points and 16 rebounds.

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