BOYS BASKETBALL
Millbrook forward Donzell Hill (44) pushes his way into the paint against Durham Riverside in this week's GlaxoSmithKline holiday tournament. The senior put together a stellar tournament, averaging more than 12 points a game in the Wildcats' three games.
GlaxoSmithKline wrap-up
Wildcats drop
nail-bitter, recover with two wins
To say the Millbrook boys basketball team held it's own in the GlaxoSmithKline holiday tournament — one of the country's most competitive showcases — is an understatement.
After narrowly losing to Marietta Walton (Ga.) — and N.C. State recruit Ryan Harrow — Monday 61-60 in their tournament opener, the Wildcats regrouped to put together two solid performances, notching wins over Garner and Durham Riverside. (It should be noted Harrow went for 35 points to help Walton avoid the upset to the Wildcats.)
And Millbrook saved the best for last, handing Riverside, which entered the tournament undefeated this season, a 68-61 defeat Wednesday afternoon.
Millbrook's Errick Davis (left) slips a pass in between Sanderson's Kevin Black and Montez Hedgepath (30) during the Wildcats' 52-48 win over the Spartans Monday, Dec. 21.
Wildcats stave off Spartans' late push
A win never comes easy on a rival's court, and the Millbrook boys basketball team experienced that first hand in Monday's 52-48 victory over Sanderson.
Although the Spartans never led — and faced a nine-point deficit with 2:18 remaining — Millbrook still needed to hold off a late Sanderson rally to pull out a narrow victory in the crosstown clash.
In fact, without the clutch free-throw shooting of sophomore Shi-Chee Moore and senior B.J. Orr — who each hit a pair foul shots in the final 16 seconds — the Wildcats might have fallen in a contest they seemingly controlled for 46 minutes.
Afterward Millbrook senior Jarrick Brown, who scored a team-high 13 points, said the Wildcats momentarily got away from what they do best — play defense — during the Spartans' surge.
VIDEO: Cats claw out win
The Millbrook boys basketball team led by double digits at times Monday night, but the Wildcats needed to hold off a late Sanderson run to seal a 52-48 victory. Check out our video of the action.
Wakefield's Nigel King (left) fights for room against Millbrook's Donzell Hill during Tuesday night's game. Nigel later won the game with a late jumpshot.
King's game-winner pushes Wolverines past Cats Tuesday
Prior to hitting his game-winning jumpshot Tuesday night, which lifted the Wakefield boys basketball team to a 49-47 victory over Millbrook, junior Nigel King unsuccessfully bided his time on the bench.
"He must have tapped me 40 times saying he wanted back into the game," laughed Wakefield assistant coach Dexter Cooley, recalling King's anxiousness.
But once King got his chance, he made the most of it.
As teammate Dominique McDonald in-bounded the ball with 4.4 seconds left in a tied game, King found himself open outside the three-point line. With Millbrook's Shi'Chee Moore swooping in for a steal — which nearly disrupted the play — King gathered himself, and put up a leaning jumper which went cleanly through the basket with less than a second left.
Continued ...
Tyrrel Tate (left) drives toward the basket during Friday's win over Broughton.
Tate, Millbrook trounce Capitals
While the Millbrook boys basketball team's 48-43 victory over Broughton Friday night lacked the overtime dramatics of their female counterparts, the Wildcats also fought off a late push to win their Cap-7 Conference opener.
But thanks to a stellar night from senior Tyrrel Tate, who finished with 23 points, Millbrook thwarted the Capitals' comeback attempts.
In what Millbrook head coach Scott McInnes called a "slow and methodical" game, the Wildcats' offense got an early lift from Tate's work on the boards and defense.
Three times in the first quarter, the senior forward put back a Millbrook miss or converted a lay-up off a steal, helping the Wildcats to a 15-11 first-quarter lead.
VIDEO: MHS/BHS boys basketball highlights
With Tyrrel Tate leading the way with 22 points, the Millbrook boys basketball team held off Broughton Friday, Dec. 11, defeating the Capitals 48-43. For highlights from the Wildcats' conference opener, click
on our video.
In addition to his 19 points Dec. 8, Millbrook senior Danny Mizerk (left) hit two three-pointers in the final 90 seconds of regulation to help the Wildcats take Northern Durham into overtime. Millbrook eventually knocked off the Knights 83-78, improving to 5-1 this season.
Wildcats escape with win over Knights in overtime
Mizerk drops in 19 points, including five treys after halftime
If this was a trashy New York tabloid, we'd probably run the headline "Danny Mizerk goes Berserk" with our game story highlighting the Millbrook boys basketball team's 83-78 overtime win over Northern Durham Tuesday night.
While we steered clear of the berserk title, it doesn't mean Mizerk's second-half performance, which included 19 points and five three-pointers, wasn't headline worthy.
The senior guard delivered time and again in the second half and overtime for the Wildcats, hitting a handful of momentum-changing shots, including two in the final 90 seconds of regulation, forcing the extra session.
Millbrook senior BJ Orr recently spoke with NorthRaleighSports.com about his squad's 2009-10 season, about teammate Tyrrel Tate's improvement and playing for Wildcat head coach Scott McInnes. Click here to see what the Millbrook sharpshooter had to say.
Millbrook senior Tyrrel Tate (left) and Wildcat assistant basketball coach Chris Davis share a laugh during Tate's signing ceremony Thursday afternoon in the Millbrook cafeteria. Tate, who was cut from the Millbrook jayvee team as a freshman, committed to play basketball at Fayetteville State University next season.
Tate to continue basketball career
at Fayetteville State
In ninth grade, Millbrook's Tyrrel Tate wasn't college basketball material.
In fact, he wasn't even junior varsity material.
And it wasn't hard to see, recalled Wildcat assistant basketball coach Chris Davis Thursday afternoon.
"Cutting him was easy. It wasn't even a question," the coach explained. "It was an easy cut that year."
But three seasons later, Davis joined Tate's family, friends and teammates of the Millbrook boys basketball team to celebrate the senior's signing to play basketball at Fayetteville State University.
Millbrook's Stephen Townsend (3) drives toward the basket during Tuesday night's season opener at Knightdale. The Wildcats' couldn't overcome a 16-point, second-half deficit, falling 71-64.
Wildcats' first half 'dooms' opener
Although the Millbrook boys basketball team rallied back at Knightdale Tuesday night, cutting a 16-point, second-half deficit to just three on Jarrick Brown's lay-up with 37.3 seconds left, the Wildcats couldn't complete the opening-night comeback, eventually falling 71-64 to the Knights.
While Millbrook's late rally might have fallen short, Wildcat head coach Scott McInnes didn't fault his squad's final surge for the loss, but rather he blamed Millbrook's sloppy start.
"We had 16 turnovers in the first half, and when you do that, you're doomed," the coach said outside the Wildcats' visiting locker room following the game. "We were bad on offense, but the turnovers are what really hurt us."