Separation Saturday: Leesville Road wins CAP7 tiebreaker game against Millbrook
Of course, Saturday’s CAP 7 tiebreaker game between rivals Leesville Road and Millbrook wasn’t going to be your typical high school basketball game.
There was too much on the line, and these foes aren’t exactly friendly. After splitting the two regular-season games, the rubber match had a little bit of everything. Technical fouls, sure. Fans coming out of the stands trying to get on the floor, you bet. Coaches needing to be separated, coming right up.
When the dust settled, it would be the Pride coming out on top, knocking off the Wildcats, 65-60, and earning the top spot in the CAP 7 conference. The two teams came into the day with identical 11-1 records in conference play. The league tournament was canceled because of snow on Thursday so the tiebreaker had to be played on a neutral court. They played in front of a packed crowd at Broughton High School, and the fans got their money’s worth and then some.
Pride guard Carter Whitt scored a game-high 34 points, and Leesville never trailed after taking a 23-22 lead in the second quarter on a 3 from junior guard Chase Hakerem. Leesville (19-7) didn’t score a field goal in the final 3:34 of the game, but got just enough from the foul line — three free throws from Whitt — to seal the deal.
The win by the Pride has serious playoff implications — for both sides. For one, it means Leesville Road, currently on a 10-game win streak, will more than likely get a first-round bye when the NCHSAA playoffs start next week and more than one home game.
“Getting to play at Leesville means a lot to us,” Frazier said. “We adore the Loonies (Leesville student section) and we adore the Leesville community. In 4A basketball, home court advantage means everything.”
On the flip side of that Millbrook (22-3) controlled its own destiny, with the chance to be a top-two seed, but had that slip away on Saturday with its second consecutive loss to the Pride. There were still some tiebreaker games in the 4A to be played Saturday, but regardless of how things shake out, being No. 2 in the CAP 7 does not bode well for the Wildcats.
“Dramatically,” was Millbrook coach Chris Davis’ response when asked how this changes things. “We could end up in a couple of different places. We had our own fate in our hands, and we didn’t take care of it.”
Millbrook came into the game on a four-game winning streak, having bounced back from an overtime loss at Leesville on Jan. 31. But the Pride seems to have the Wildcats’ number, again. For the second season in a row, Leesville knocked off Millbrook when it counted the most — last season in the CAP 7 tournament, this season in the CAP 7 tiebreaker.
Davis said he told his seniors it’s one and done now, but the bright side at least, is they get another chance to play, even though as a lower seed, and maybe set up another game with Leesville.
“We felt like as good as they (Leesville) are, we could see them four times,” Davis said. “That’s the goal, to keep going and they’ll go and, hopefully, we get to play again.”
Millbrook was led by 6-7 junior forward Will Felton, who scored 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.
Whitt got plenty of help from 6-7 junior forward Jalen McDonald (15 points) in this game, and it was the addition of McDonald to the team in January that has been the biggest difference. Leesville road has not lost with McDonald in the lineup. In late December, Frazier talked about how the team has yet to play with its entire roster, and he felt like once they had everyone, they would take off. Turns out he was right.
“My grandmother used to say, ‘Don’t stomp in the kitchen while I’m baking my cake, I don’t want my cake to fall,’ ” Frazier said. “We had to get all the right ingredients, everything we needed to be a great basketball team, put our cake in the oven and we baked it. Now we’re just trying to put the icing on it and light the candles.”
NOTES: In an earlier tiebreaker game from the Northern Athletic Conference, Wakefield defeated Knightdale, 50-42. Both teams came into the day with matching 6-4 records. With the win, the Wolverines lock up the No. 3 seed in the NAC.
In the SWAC, Garner defeated Apex Friendship, 84-75, in overtime. With the win the Trojans get the number seed out of the SWAC which could possibly earn Garner a top seed in the 4A playoffs. The Trojans and Patriots were tied in the league standings with 10-2 records. Garner is now 22-5 overall.
This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Separation Saturday: Leesville Road wins CAP7 tiebreaker game against Millbrook."
