Fourth-quarter surge leads Pioneers to win

By Jerry Holsworth - sports@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- In a key Northwestern District boys basketball game against Millbrook, visiting Handley was holding a four-point lead heading into the final quarter and, more importantly, all of the momentum.

Handley (10-4, 2-2), which was tied with Skyline for second place in the district going into the game, just needed to take care of business to stay in contention for the district regular-season crown. Another loss and the Pioneers (11-4, 3-2) were in danger of falling too far behind to have any hope for even a high seed in the district tournament.

"This was Millbrook versus Handley and we knew coming in that it wasn't going to be a blow out either way," Millbrook coach Scott Mankins said. "It really doesn't matter who has the lead at the end of the first quarter or at the end of the half, it's who has the lead at the end of the game."

Handley, which had shot its way back into the game in the third period after trailing for most of the contest, lost its shooting touch in a big way in the final eight minutes, and Pioneers guards Donte Harris and Rze Culbreath seized the moment to lead Millbrook to a stunning 74-66 win.

"Handley came out for the second half and put up 25 points in the third quarter," Mankins said "But our kids came out in the final period and did their jobs. I really didn't do anything. The kids deserve all of the credit for this win. Our players got back to executing the plan that we came into the game with, and we were fortunate to get the win."

Trailing 55-51 with just eight minutes to play, Harris let everyone know in the packed Millbrook gym that he was going to take his Pioneers on his back and lead them to victory. Tipping in a shot under the basket with 7:20 left to go in the game, Harris sparked a 10-0 run by Millbrook over the first four minutes of the period that left Handley trailing 61-55.

Harris followed his tip-in with a layup and a 3-pointer, and Culbreath added a 3-pointer and the Pioneers were in the driver's seat.

While Millbrook was hitting on all cylinders, Handley missed its first nine shots from the field and didn't score a point until Derek Dowrey tipped in a ball with 4:11 left in the game.

"It really wasn't what Donte [Harris] did with the ball in the fourth quarter, it was what he wasn't doing with the ball," Mankins said. "He wasn't forcing the ball. He let the game come to him and when he was open he took the shot."

The Judges were just 5 of 19 from the floor in the final quarter, and all but two of their 11 points of the period came in the last two minutes of play. By that time the Pioneers were leading 64-57.

"That really hurt, but there were a lot of things that happened before that," Judges coach Tommy Dixon said. "We turned the ball over 15 times in the first quarter."

Forced to foul in a desperate attempt to get back into the game, Handley watched helplessly as Millbrook went 10 of 15 over the final 1:36 of play.

The final score, however, was no indication of how close the game was. It was a battle from start-to-finish with neither side able get any separation.

Millbrook got an early lead on the Judges thanks to 15 Handley turnovers in the first quarter. But after the Pioneers led 17-11 with just a minute to play in the period, the Judges came roaring back scoring the final four points of the quarter, including a 3-pointer by Chris Skinner from behind midcourt as the clock went off.

"We came out too relaxed to begin the game," Dixon said. "We felt like we had the right combination out there, but it didn't show."

Despite the heroic end to the period for Handley, Millbrook, behind the play of Culbreath, was able to hold the Judges off through the second period, and led 32-30 at intermission.

Handley started the second half with a 7-2 run that left the Pioneers reeling. Robbie Lawler, who had gone scoreless in the first half, scored all nine of his points in the third period, and the Judges were ahead 45-42 with 2:47 left in the quarter.

Culbreath kept his Pioneers from getting too far behind, scoring another nine points in the period. The Millbrook senior finished the night with a game-high 30 points.

Harris scored 14 points for the Pioneers, 11 of which came in the second half. Cody Taylor also scored in double figures for Millbrook with 10 points.

The Judges were led by Jacob Rudolph, who had 15 points for the night, and Skinner, who contributed 14 points. Dowrey scored 10 points for Handley.