Hagerman spurs Millbrook boys past Sherando
STEPHENS CITY — Last Monday, the Millbrook High School boys' basketball team snapped Handley's 39-game winning streak against Northwestern District opponents.
Now it seems the Pioneers might be on a little district roll of their own.
On Friday night, Millbrook overcame a six-point halftime deficit by outscoring Sherando 33-21 in the second half to slip past the Warriors 54-48 at Sherando High School.
The Pioneers (8-4 overall) remained perfect in the Class 4 Northwestern District at 5-0, and a large amount of the credit goes to senior guard Julien Hagerman. Hagerman, who hit for a career-high 23 points against Handley topped that number Friday night thanks to a monster second half.
Hagerman scored a game-high 25 points, with 20 of that coming in the second half. He scored 13 of Millbrook's 15 fourth quarter points. He knocked down six 3-pointers — five came in the second half, including three in the final frame.
"[Hagerman] hit some big shots. Once you see that first one go through you start to feel a little more comfortable," Millbrook coach Steve Grubbs said. "I think in the first half we kind of played to their tempo and pace. In the second half we started to play a little bit more aggressive on the defensive end. That helped us get out and run.
"We told them at halftime shots are going to fall but I didn't think in the first half we were near aggressive enough. A lot of credit goes to Sherando. That's a long, lanky team. I don't know what they run size-wise but they are definitely long and lanky. In the second half, I think you saw just a little bit more of the aggressive nature that we like to play."
The first quarter was back and forth with four lead changes and three ties. Darius Lane hit a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in the quarter to give Sherando (3-9, 1-4) a 15-14 lead after the first period of play.
Sherando played some of it's best basketball of the season to start the second quarter, opening with an 8-2 run and building the lead to 23-16 midway through the frame.
Adrian Myers opened the period with an offensive rebound and stick back for Sherando. Cole Armel followed that with a pair of baskets in the paint and Myers closed the run with a layup at the 4:25 mark.
Millbrook stopped the Warriors run with a 3-pointer from Taralle Hayden. The Pioneers were able to trim a point off the lead but still found themselves down 27-21 at the break.
Whatever the Pioneers discussed at halftime worked. Millbrook stormed out in the 3rd quarter on an 8-2 run and tied the game at 29-29 on a fast break layup by Michael Robinson off a beautiful pass from Jordan Jackson.
On the next trip down the floor, Hagerman hit the first of his five second half 3's to give Millbrook its first lead since the first quarter at 32-29 with 4:38 left in the third quarter.
The two teams battled back and forth over the next three minutes and with 1:32 left in the third, Myers once again tied it for Sherando with another offensive rebound and putback, making it 35-35.
Hagerman answered that and gave the Pioneers the lead for good on their next possession. He buried a 3-pointer while being fouled and knocked out of bounds. He made the free throw giving the Pioneers the lead 39-35 after three periods of play.
Hagerman's four-point play seemed to take the wind out of the Warriors' sail. Millbrook opened the fourth quarter on a 10-4 run to extend its lead to 49-39, the biggest lead of the night for either team.
Hagerman opened the fourth like he finished the third with another 3-pointer. He then came up with a steal and drove the length of the floor for a layup and a 44-35 Pioneers lead.
Tyson Stewart got into the act for Millbrook with a nice drive and reverse layup to make it 46-37 and Hagerman followed up a Warriors basket with another 3-pointer for a 49-39 lead with just under five minutes to play.
Not to be outdone, Myers brought the Warriors storming right back with a pair of 3-pointers of his own to trim the deficit to four (49-45) with 3:22 to play.
Hagerman's final trey of the game was by far his longest and extended the lead back to seven (52-45) with just under three minutes to play.
Sherando continued to battle and again got to within four on a free throw by Keli Lawson and a layup by Caleb Hakel to make it 52-48.
Millbrook scored the final points of the game with 2:10 left on the clock when Hagerman drove baseline and hit a runner for a 54-48 lead.
Neither team was proud of their execution in the final minute of play. Three times in the last 37 seconds the Pioneers went to the line for one-and-one's and missed all three. However each time the Warriors collected the rebounds they were unable to get off shots because they turned it over each time.
"Right now the situation we've been having over the last three or four games is we play three, three and half quarters fairly decently but when we start to get in pressure situations we get nervous and throw the ball all over the place and not stay with our game plan," Sherando coach Garland Williams said. "I told the guys until we get over that hump there as far as focusing on what we need to do, there are things we need to do as far as not losing our composure and turn the ball over.
"They have some explosive players but we feel like we have a pretty good basketball team but the record's not showing it. We're improving each game and we're working on getting four quarters together and see if we can pull out a win. We still have life."
Hagerman was the only Pioneer in double figures. Stewart pitched in seven points and Ben Oates added six for Millbrook. Myers led the Warriors with 16 points. Armel and Lawson chipped in 10 points each.
