Millbrook — Home
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.
Millbrook's Alex Tomlinson (right) pushes the ball upcourt as Sanderson's Derricka Lewis gives chase Monday night. The Lady Wildcats knocked off the Lady Spartans 51-42.
Williams, Lady Cats
clip Spartans
Thanks to Samiyah Williams' 15-point, 12-rebound performance — as well as a 16-7 third-quarter run — the Millbrook girls basketball team knocked off Sanderson 51-42 Monday, Dec. 21.
Lady Wildcat head coach Chris East admitted his squad made a conceded attempt to get the senior forward involved, and she didn't disappoint.
"We made an effort to get it into the post area, and she responded with probably the best game she's had all year," he said. "She got a lot of rebounds — she's not afraid to rebound and she gets after it — I'm just glad it's coming together for her."
East explained the senior has been "frustrated" by her play of late, which included a 2-point effort in a overtime loss to Wakefield Dec. 15.
Millbrook 103-pounder Brett Burton tightens his grip on Wakefield's Zach Koehler Wednesday. Burton scored a fall in the second period.
Wildcat wrestlers wreak havoc
at Wakefield
Momentum is supposed to be one of those unmeasurable elements of sports lore. It's fleeting, often hard to define and in no way quantifiable.
Yet during the Millbrook wrestling team's dominating 73-6 victory at Wakefield Wednesday, Dec. 16, you could see it and feel it.
The Wildcats were on a tear, and the Wolverines didn't stand a chance.
Wakefield's Nicole Weaver (24) battles for position for a rebound Tuesday against Millbrook. She later hit a three-pointer lifting the Lady Wolverines to a 43-39 victory.
Christian, Wakefield hand Cats OT loss
Having just watched her Wakefield girls basketball team cough up an eight-point, fourth-quarter lead at Millbrook Tuesday— and now headed for overtime — head coach Danielle Blackburn put the game squarely on the Lady Wolverines' upperclassmen, recalled senior Nicole Weaver.
"During that timeout before overtime, Coach Blackburn told us she was putting in all our seniors and it was our job to finish the game," the forward explained. "And I think we got in the mindset that we weren't going to lose."
Brittany Christian, the Wakefield's one consistent threat all night, did her part, nailing an early three-pointer, giving the Lady Wolverines' an early 39-36 advantage, but Millbrook's Courtney Spearman answered back two minutes later with her own trey.
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 ...
Following his outsanding 2009 season, Millbrook junior Justus Hoffmann was named the Cap-7 Conference's Defensive Player of the Year.
Cap-7 announces
All-Conference
football honors
WF-R's Trea Jones receives
Player of the Year award
Two days after the Heisman trophy was awarded to the best running back on the best college team — Alabama's Mark Ingram — the Cap-7 Conference released it's awards Monday morning, including the league's Player of the Year honors.
And like the Heisman, the Cap-7 coaches also voted to award the best running back on the best team with the league's highest accolade.
After leading the Wake Forest-Rolesville football team to an undefeated regular-season, and its second straight 4-AA Eastern Regional appearance, Trea Jones was named the league's Player of the Year.
Millbrook's Courtney Spearman (11) swoops in for two of her 28 points Friday night.
Cats crush Caps
in double OT
Spearman's 28 points leads Millbrook to win in league opener
Courtney Spearman's 28-point performance in a 77-69 double-overtime win over Broughton wasn't the only reason the Millbrook girls basketball team won, it was just the biggest reason.
After scoring just four points in the first half, the senior guard punished the Capitals for 15 in the second half and nine more in two overtimes, leading an inexperienced Wildcat team to its most compelling victory of the season to date.
Spearman's performance was all the more impressive considering Broughton's Amber Nichols, and her 31 points, did everything imaginable to defeat Millbrook.
"Courtney was amazing tonight," said Millbrook head coach Chris East following the game. "What we saw was a senior who didn't want to lose."
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.
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.
For their work on the pitch this fall, Millbrook's Austin Dietz (left) and Wakefield's Ryan Metts were both named to the Cap-7 Conference All-Conference team.
Cap-7 releases
All-Conference soccer selections
The Cap-7 Conference, arguably North Carolina's most competitive soccer league this fall, recently released its All-Conference selections.
Broughton — which won the conference's regular-season and tournament titles — led the league with seven All-Conference honorees, while Leesville Road and Sanderson tied for the second-most selections with six apiece.
Without further ado, the Cap-7 Conference All-Conference team ...
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 sophomore Samantha George (510) looks to prove herself against some of the best runners in the South during the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships South Regional race in Charlotte Saturday, Nov. 28.
Millbrook's George
to compete in
Charlotte Saturday
Less than a month after surging late to capture third place at the 4-A NCHSAA girls cross country championships, Millbrook's Samantha George is still racing, competing in the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships South Regional race on Saturday, Nov. 28, at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte.
With a strong showing at the regional event, the sophomore could receive a spot on the national team, according to a Foot Locker press release.
The girls' 5,000-meter seeded race begins at 10 a.m., and the top ten girls qualify for the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships National Finals Saturday, Dec. 12, in San Diego, Calif.
Continued ...
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."
Bengals clobber 'Cats 27-13
November 14, 2009
By Christian Worstell,
NorthRaleighSports.com correspondent
You might say the Millbrook football team was beaten at its own game Friday night.
You could also argue the Wildcats never got to play their own game either.
Fuquay-Varina jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, rushed for 381 yards and took the ball out of the hands of Keith Marshall and the Wildcat running game in a 27-13 first-round playoff win.
With the defeat, Millbrook’s season comes to a close at 6-6.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Members of the Millbrook cheerleading squad celebrate following last week's performance at the seventh annual NCHSAA state invitational cheerleading competition championships. The Lady Wildcats recorded the highest cumulative score in the entire competition and won the event's top honor, the Carolina Cup.
Millbrook cheerleaders bring home Carolina Cup
Moments before the Millbrook varsity cheerleading team took the floor at last week's seventh annual NCHSAA state invitational cheerleading competition championships, head coach Kathryn Dyer was taken aback by how even-tempered her squad was.
Two months of practicing and perfecting their routine came down to their next two and a half minute performance, yet the Lady Wildcats were "hauntingly calm" beforehand, Dyer said. "In fact, I was a little worried by it."
But the squad hit the matted floor at the Raleigh Convention Center and didn't just shine, but nailed their performance, recording the highest cumulative score in the entire competition and winning the event's top honor, the Carolina Cup.
PHOTO BY ROB ORAZI
The Millbrook defense, including Austin Merritt (from left), Jarrick Feaster, Matt Aronowitz, Greg Gilchrist and Justus Hoffmann, will get plenty opportunities to make tackles against Fuquay-Varina's stout running attack Friday night.
Wildcats prepare for Fuquay-Varina ground game
As Millbrook football coach Clarence Inscore explained it, there are three phases to interpreting Fuquay-Varina running back Cory Hunter's 463-yard performance earlier this season.
First, shock. ("My first reaction? Oh my God," the coach admitted.)
Second. Who did the Bengals play?
And thirdly?
"Well, it doesn't matter who they played because you have to be a pretty good running back to put up 460-some yards," Inscore reasoned.
Inscore and the Wildcats get to see Hunter and the Bengals' stout running attack in person Friday night as the two squads square off in the first round of the 4-AA state playoffs.
After finishing fourth at last year's 4-A state meet, Millbrok's Samantha George — helped by a strong finish — captured third place at Saturday's state championships at Tanglewood.
George surges late, takes third
What makes Samantha George's third-place finish at Saturday's NCHSAA 4-A state cross country meet at Tanglewood most impressive isn't where she placed.
It's where the Millbrook sophomore was with approximately a mile left.
Early on East Chapel Hill's Carolyn Baskir and T.C. Roberson's Laura Hoer established themselves as the racer's leaders, with Baskir always a few strides in the lead.
But behind that twosome stood George steadily holding down third, which seemed about right considering she captured fourth in the same race one year earlier.
FILE PHOTO
On Millbrook senior night, Scott Gray recorded a milestone game, reaching the end zone four times in the Wildcats' 42-35 victory over Enloe Friday.
Gray, Wildcats shrug off Enloe
Needing a win in its regular-season finale to keep its postseason plans intact, the playoffs arrived a week early for the Millbrook football team.
So, too, did the heroic playoff performances and postseason drama.
Scott Gray scored four touchdowns for the first time in his life and Kendall Whitehead picked off an Enloe pass to stave off a late threat as the Wildcats won 42-35 on their home field Friday night.
With the win, Millbrook — which had lost four of its last six games entering Friday — secured a playoff berth with a 6-5 record.
Millbrook senior Parker Eden (right) collides with a Durham Riverside defender during the Wildcats' first-round playoff match-up Wednesday. The Pirates pulled out a 4-2 win in a shootout.
Millbrook soccer falls
in PK shootout
at Riverside
Yes, the Wildcats' situation may have felt dire Wednesday — state playoff game, on the road at Durham Riverside, deadlocked at 1-1 and facing a shootout conclusion — but Millbrook soccer coach Matt Edwards said he felt confident, especially after keeper Spencer LaCivita thwarted the Pirates' first attempt.
Then Wildcat forward Austin Dietz buried his kick, giving Millbrook a 1-0 advantage in a match which seemed to have no end, lasting regulation and 30 minutes worth of overtime.
"It was a situation we felt good about because we have the best goalkeeper in the state, and we started out how we wanted," he shrugged, alluding to Dietz's goal. "But we just didn't finish."
Nearing the end
Six seniors share their thoughts on Friday night's finales
This is it. It all comes down to this.
Four years of up-and-downs, field-long gassers and film study have lead up to now.
Afternoons lifting weights, summer workouts and all the practices between games, too.
And Every moment Friday will be a memory replayed for years to come.
So there's little surprise the seniors of the Leesville Road, Millbrook and Sanderson football teams will be a tad emotional when they take the field Friday night — their last assured home game of their careers.
Sanderson's Mitchell Feldman (center) placed 13th in Saturday's 4-A Mideast Regional Cross Country meet in Cary, helping the Spartans to a second-place finish and a bid to states.
Mallory, Spartans state-bound
George finishes second;
Lady Wildcats nab fourth
A few hundred meters from the finish line of the biggest — and best — race of his life, Wakefield's Mitch Mallory tripped over his own two feet.
But the junior gathered himself —albeit spitting mad — and completed the race, placing fifth in Saturday's 4-A Mideast Regional Cross Country meet with a time of 15:58.23. His finish qualified him for next week's 4-A state championships in Winston-Salem — and he's the first runner to advance to the finals from Wakefield in at least six years, coach Wayne Dubnansky said.
"I tripped and fell on my way up the hill," Mallory shrugged afterward. "I just caught my own leg. I was in a bad mood coming up to the finish. I was pissed. I just wanted to get to the finish line as fast as I could."
Continued ...
PHOTO BY ROB ORAZI
WF-R's Darren Kirby (2) tripped up Millbrook's Michael Thornton (20) in the second half of the Cougars' 48-0 victory Friday night. WF-R improved to 10-0, including 5-0 in conference.
WF-R routs Wildcats 48-0
Undefeated Cougars clinich
Cap-7 title with victory
It might be hard to remember following the Millbrook football team's humbling 48-0 defeat at the hands of Wake Forest-Rolesville Friday night, but the Wildcats' wheels didn't fall off right away.
The Cougars' seven touchdowns just made it feel that way.
In fact, 12 minutes into the Cap-7 Conference contest, the two squads were still deadlocked in a scoreless tie, and Millbrook had already driven deep into Cougars' territory — though WF-R's Darren Kirby blocked their field goal attempt — and thwarted WF-R's first two possessions.
And after halting WF-R's third drive at the Millbrook four-yard line, the Wildcats seemed hellbent on not allowing the Cougars to clinch the conference title Friday in front of a fired up senior night crowd.
Alas, the Cougars' stellar defense — which allows fewer than five points a contest — got the WF-R ball rolling as senior defensive back Will Braddy picked off a Trey McFarland pass and dashed 14 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter.
Millbrook senior Connor Karr (left) jumps in front of Broughton's Kenan Ender to head a ball during Tuesday's Cap-7 Conference tournament semifinals match. The Capitals pulled out a 1-0 win, advancing to the tournament's championship game against Sanderson Thursday night.
Broughton bounces Millbrook from
Cap-7 tournament
According to Millbrook soccer coach Matt Edwards, Tuesday's 1-0 defeat to Broughton in the Cap-7 Conference tournament semifinals had a common — yet unfortunate — familiarity to it.
With just over 15 minutes remaining in regulation, and deadlocked at 0-0, the Wildcats were on the attack in Broughton's defensive third.
But the Capitals maintained to halt the Millbrook possession, and force the action upfield, racing past the Wildcats' retreating defenders.
Moments later Broughton's Lassiter Tollison slipped a kick past Millbrook keeper Spencer LaCivita for the would-be game-winner, lifting the Capitals to the tournament championship game. (Broughton will face Sanderson in the finals at Leesville Road Thursday at 6:30 p.m.)
Millbrook's Antonio Aldama (center) battles Wakefield's Zack Spence (15) for a possession during Monday's first-round Cap-7 Conference tournament game. The Wildcats pulled out a 1-0 win, advancing to play Broughton Tuesday (Oct. 27) at Leesville Road High School at 5 p.m.
Wildcats claw
past Wolverines
Kennamer's second-half goal
lifts Millbrook to win
To hear Millbrook soccer coach Matt Edwards explain it, without last week's win over Enloe, his Wildcats likely wouldn't have defeated Wakefield 1-0 Monday night.
After dropping four of its previous five games, the Wildcats knocked off the Eagles 2-0 in the squad's regular-season finale Oct. 21.
Five days later, Millbrook carried that momentum into its meeting with the Wolverines in the first round of the Cap-7 Conference soccer tournament.
"Enloe was a good boost of confidence in that we played well against a good team," Edwards explained. "I think that was what we really needed after we dropped some games. "We couldn't have been good tonight if we weren't good against Enloe last week."
Millbrook sophomore Keith Marshall tallied 162 of his 203 rushing yards in the first half of Friday's 39-23 win over Leesville Road. Marshall and the Wildcats visit undefeated WF-R Friday, Oct. 30.
Millbrook, miscues thwart Pride attack
Wildcats clinch win with four consecutive takeaways Friday
For a Millbrook football team plagued by costly turnovers seemingly all season, Friday's 39-23 victory over visiting Cap-7 Conference rival Leesville Road had a certain level of vindication to it.
The Wildcats forced the Pride into seven turnovers — including takeaways on Leesville's last four possessions — scoring a much-needed victory in Millbrook's postseason pursuit. (More importantly, Millbrook turned the ball over just once in their impressive victory.)
Following the win, head coach Clarence Inscore highlighted the parallels between how the Wildcats lost games earlier this season, and how they won Friday.
"What's been killing us all year, helped us tonight," he reasoned of turnovers. "We were finally on the right end of the turnover ratio. Again, that is huge for us. We are a good football team when we don't turn the ball over."
If the skill-position players shine in Friday night's Millbrook/Leesville Road football game, the boys upfront will undoubtedly be playing well. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Millbrook.
Pride, Wildcats square off Friday
In rivalry games, like Friday night's Leesville Road at Millbrook football match-up, records and previous performances can usually be thrown out.
(After scoring just 12 points against Broughton Oct. 9, did anyone see Wake Forest-Rolesville hanging 47 points on crosstown foe Wakefield. Me, neither.)
So, anything can happen when rivalries — i.e. emotions — are involved. And Friday will be no different.
For that reason, let's focus on these four facts leading into the contest.
FILE PHOTO
Alex de Groot (9) and the Wakefield soccer team battles Austin Dietz (left), Alex Oloffson (21) and the Millbrook soccer team in the first round of the Cap-7 Conference soccer tournament Monday night. The Wildcats host the match-up, set to begin at 6:30 p.m.
Cap-7 Conference soccer tournament schedule set
With the conclusion of the Cap-7 Conference boys soccer regular-season schedule Wednesday night, area teams begin preparing for their respective first-round match-ups in the league's tournament, which kicks off Monday, Oct. 26.
Fourth-seeded Millbrook (6-6) hosts fifth-seeded Wakefield (5-6-1), while second-seeded Leesville Road (7-4-1) hosts No. 7 Wake Forest-Rolesville (0-12). The Pride defeated the Cougars 7-0 Wednesday in the squads' respective finales.
Millbrook sophomore Samantha George captured first place in Tuesday's Cap-7 Conference Cross Country Championship, posting a time of 18:14.99. In addition to George's win, the Lady Wildcats also claimed the team title, tallying a score of 44.
Spartans,
Lady Wildcats
take Cap-7 crowns
George repeats as girls' winner, posting a time of 18:14.99
Entering Tuesday's Cap-7 Conference girls cross country championship race at WakeMed Soccer Park , Millbrook sophomore Samantha George — last year's conference champion — and Wildcat coach Brian Schneidewind compiled a strategy.
It was simple plan, really.
George was to hang in the lead pack, and pull away late. A good plan — likely a winning plan, too, considering her success last year.
But the 10th-grader decided against it.
"My coach wanted me to stay with the next top girl and leave her at the hill," George said. "But I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to go early."
The result? George posted a remarkable time of 18:14.99 en route to her second consecutive title, besting second-place, Leesville Road's Lauren Strapp, by nearly 30 seconds.
Leesville Road's Ryan Fleming (left) and Millbrook's Bradley Newman battle for possession late in the Pride's 2-0 victory Tuesday. Fleming scored a first-half goal in the win.
Fleming, Burns lead Leesville over Millbrook
Following the Leesville Road soccer team's 2-0 victory over Millbrook Tuesday night — the squad's fourth win in its last six contests — Pride senior Chris Hawthorne pinpointed how the Pride turned its season around.
After a tumultuous 1-4 start to the year, Hawthorne explained Leesville found a sense of urgency.
"We have been working harder on and off the field, in practice and in the games, and we've talked about people being more desperate on both sides of the field," he said. "Both in the attacking third and the defensive third, we needed to play harder. And that's been the difference."
Head coach Chip Stone explained more simply, saying "We were playing idiotic."
And now? "Our guys have bought into what we want to do, and they have played very well," he said. "At first, we weren't seeing the results for our effort. But now we have beaten some pretty good teams recently."
