With the help of a last-second Wakefield bench technical, the Junior Varsity Wildcats bent but did not break for a second straight game as it pulled out a 52-51 win on the road.
Phillip Burwell went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe with no time left on the clock in a tie game. Burwell’s shots were awarded after Wakefield called a timeout that they did not have following an offensive rebound on a potential game-winning three point attempt.
Millbrook held a double-digit advantage for a significant portion of the contest. Sam Hood, and Tyler Gill got the Wildcats off to a red shot start by establishing an 11-1 lead in the first quarter. Hood posted six of his eight points in the opening frame.
Gill tallied five in the first stanza before giving way to back-to-back Burwell threes. Gill heated back up before the half came to a close with a personal 6-0 run to give Millbrook a 33-21 lead heading into the break.
Wakefield started the second half on an 8-0 to cut the Wildcat lead to just four. Isaiah Lewis answered fast with a steal and assist to Gill, then Adam Carey found Lewis on the wing for a three-point basket. Burwell gave Millbrook a 43-34 lead heading into the fourth quarter on a pull-up jump shot as time expired in the third.
Burwell picked up where he left off in the third with a basket while drawing the foul to start the fourth. The sophomore guard missed the ensuing the free throw, and Wakefield went on to outscore Millbrook 12-0 in the following 5:23 of regulation.
The JV Wolverines traded 1-of-2 showings at the line with the Wildcats to knot the score at 46-46 with just over 90 seconds left. Noah Muldrow put Wakefield ahead by two, but Burwell responded with a three-point play on the other end to retake the lead at 49-48 with 1:12 remaining.
Colby Parcell’s long three-point score for Wakefield gave the Wolverines a 51-49 advantage with just over 28 seconds left in regulation. Lewis continued the see-saw battle with a coast-to-coast take to the basket, finishing with the left hand, and allowing Millbrook to tie the score at 51 with 13.7 seconds to go.
Out of timeouts, the Wolverines went the length of the court and managed to shoot a open three-point shot as time expired off of the clock. The ball bounced off of the rim, and Muldrow managed to corral an offensive rebound on the miss which prompted the Wakefield bench to call for a timeout.
Officials gathered, and assessed a technical foul on the play which allowed Burwell to shoot technical free throws with 2.0 seconds added back to the clock. Burwell missed the first, hit the second, then found a wide open Lewis to seal the victory on the inbound that followed.
Millbrook advances to 11-7 on the season with the win. The JV Wildcats hold an 8-2 record in the Cap-8 Conference after back-to-back victories at the buzzer; they will return home on Thursday evening at 7:00 PM when Heritage comes to town.