Recommend This StoryStaying in front: Culbreath, Pioneers top Hawks
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By Dennis Atwood - sports@nvdaily.com
FRONT ROYAL -- Playing for the second night in a row, Skyline clawed back from a 17-point deficit midway through the third period to trail by only three points with 2:10 remaining in its game against Millbrook on Wednesday night.
But Millbrook junior guard Rze Culbreath went 5-for-6 from the free-throw line in the last 1:15, part of his 11-for-12 second-half proficiency at the charity stripe, to help the Pioneers to a 63-52 win.
Culbreath finished with a game-high 24 points.
"It felt good making the free-throws and just hitting shots," Culbreath said. "We need to get the win against Skyline at our place. This is a big win getting ready for the playoffs.
"[On Skyline's come-back] we started going individual, like going by ourselves, instead of working as a team."
Millbrook (13-5, 4-3 Northwestern) broke out to a 17-8 first-period lead, keyed by an 11-0 run, with Donte Harris contributing two 3-pointers and a free-throw. Skyline (12-7, 2-4 Northwestern) committed six turnovers in the frame, five on steals resulting from poor ball handling against the Pioneers' trapping press and zone.
But Skyline bounced back in the second period, as senior guard Joey Neidigh found the range for two 3-pointers, and Dayvon Haight made a conventional three-point play. The Pioneers cooled off a bit, allowing the Hawks to cut the lead to 29-21 at halftime.
Millbrook broke out on top again at the beginning of the third period, with a 15-6 run, fueled by seven points from Culbreath and five points by senior forward Boomer Kaczmarzewski. That helped give the Pioneers their biggest lead of the night, 45-28, with 3:50 remaining in the frame.
Then the Hawks turned the tables on the Pioneers, finishing out the period with a 13-4 run of their own, sparked by 3-pointers by Kylman Breeden and Neidigh.
Hunter Stewart contributed seven points to the run, as the Hawks cut Millbrook's lead to 47-43, before Harris hit a 14-footer to make it 49-43 at the end of three periods.
Neidigh went 4-for-7 from beyond the 3-point arc, for a team-high 12 points on the night.
"We started hitting shots and stopped turning the ball over a lot," Neidigh said. "We threw the ball away too much. Then we started getting open for good shots, and we got a chance to get back in the game. We should have pulled that game out."
"The fourth quarter is what we expected all night," Pioneers coach Scott Mankins said. "We got a little cushion in the first quarter off the press and then we extended [the lead] in the second half, but they fought right back into it.
"We were trying to dribble through people and we were making some soft passes, and they took advantage of that. They penetrated well and found the open shooter."
The teams exchange four points each to start a slow-paced fourth period, then Aaron Jeremiah connected on a 3-pointer to narrow the deficit to 53-50 with 2:10 remaining in the game.
In the last two minutes, Millbrook outscored the Hawks, 10-2, as Culbreath slammed the door with his 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.
Harris contributed 17 points and Kaczmarzewski had 16 for Millbrook.
Skyline was aided by nine points each from Stewart and Dyke.
"We've got [Skyline] again on Tuesday and they're going to be tough as nails, so we can't take this one for granted," Mankins said. "We have to win Tuesday night."
"We thought we had about eight bad minutes there with a few more mistakes, they scored 25 or 30 points in those two lulls we had," Hawks coach Sonny Dyke said. "The good coming out of it is that we did rally.
"The kids didn't quit. I had to get on them a little hard. That's encouraging. We're proud of our comeback, but too many loose balls that we don't come up with and too many mental lapses."
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