Pioneers buckle down to stymie Colonels' upset bid

By Jerry Holsworth - sports@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- It took a couple of quarters, but Millbrook finally pulled away from James Wood in Northwestern District boys basketball Tuesday night for an 83-62 victory over the Colonels.

"In the first half Wood came out and executed their game plan," Pioneers coach Scott Mankins said. "Our players were just out there trying to get their own. We came out for the second half and executed our game plan, and that was the difference in the game."

The win keeps Millbrook (12-5, 4-3 in district) in position for a high seed in the upcoming Northwestern District tournament. For James Wood (8-11, 0-6), it's another disappointing loss in a district where the difference between last and first place is very small.

The game began with promise for the Colonels, who jumped ahead early on a 3-pointer by Cam Butler only 20 seconds into the game. The Colonels shot well from the field and held their lead until the final second of the first quarter.

James Wood got half of its 3-pointers in the opening period, holding off a determined effort by Millbrook to get the lead. With the clock ticking down and the Colonels leading 15-13, Thomas Baylor hit a shot with just one second left on the clock to tie the score after eight minutes of play.

A jumper by Ryland Williams put James Wood up early in the second quarter, but this time the Pioneers matched them point for point throughout the period. Williams finished the quarter with eight of his 15 points for the night, and the Colonels connected on another pair of 3s.

The one weakness in James Wood's defense in the first half was in the paint, and Pioneers post player Boomer Kaczmarzewski took advantage of every opportunity, scoring 10 critical points for Millbrook in the first half.

The second quarter also finished the way the first one did. This time it was Millbrook's Laith Abunasser who hit a layup with 30 seconds left in the first half to tie the 31-all at intermission.

"Wood comes out and tries to get you to play their game," Mankins said. "It takes patience to defeat that. Their system is based on what they get you to do.

"If you try to match them, you're playing the way they want you to play. To defeat that, you have to play disciplined basketball."

That was exactly what Millbrook did in the second half, and halftime proved to be the last time the game was close.

"In the first half we were very active on the defensive end, and we were making the extra passed to the open man," Colonels coach Al Smith said. "When our shots weren't falling in the third quarter, I think that affected us mentally. We have a tendency when we're not playing well on offense to stop playing well on defense, too. That really hurt us tonight in the second half."

Rze Culbreath got the second half started for Millbrook with a layup just 11 seconds into the third quarter, and the rout was on. The Colonels didn't help their cause by missing their first five field goal attempts of the second half, allowing the Pioneers to jump ahead 37-33 with 5:49 left in the period.

Things went downhill from there for James Wood, which shot just 5 of 21 from the field for the period. That allowed Millbrook to surge forward with a 12-0 run midway through the quarter to lead 49-35 with 3:08 left in the period.

While James Wood was having trouble finding the basket, the Pioneers took just 10 shots from the field in the period, but made all of them.

"When we get in a situation like the one we were in during the second half, we have a tendency to start trying to make plays that we really can't make," Smith said. "I can't criticize their effort, but we're not NBA players and we need to play within ourselves."

Donte Harris and Cody Taylor were the primary offensive weapons for Millbrook. Harris scored 10 of his 18 points for the game in the quarter. Taylor was almost unstoppable during the second half. After going scoreless in the first half, he scored six third-quarter points and another 10 in the final period.

With Millbrook leading 58-44 with just eight minutes to play, James Wood had dug a hole for themselves that proved impossible to overcome.

"We talked about this at halftime," Mankins said. "In the first half, we played their way and we got 31 points. In the second half, we played our way and we got 52 points."

Chad Potter and Michael Carter did their best to revive the Colonels, combining for 14 of James Wood's 18 fourth-quarter points.

Harris wasn't the only Pioneer to scored 18 points for the night. Kaczmarzewski dominated the paint for Millbrook and also tallied 18 points. Culbreath also scored in double figures for the Pioneers with 14 points.

James Wood was lead by Potter, who had 17 points for the night, and Williams with 15 points.