1/6/26 Front Royal, VA-Â Millbrook hits the road to visit Skyline in tonight’s Hike Kidz Foundation Game of the Week courtesy of Brickhouse Bar and Grill on Fox Sports Radio 1450, TheRiver953.com, and The River 95.3 app with coverage starting around 7:15 pm for the estimated 7:30 pm tip-off.
Both teams began there seasons with strong starts and will need to sustain that success as the calendar turns and district play starts to heat-up.
While Millbrook is in Class 4 and Skyline is in Class 3, both are members of the Northwestern District and usually put on a show for the fans in attendance.
This is the first of two matchups this season and last year the teams split the season series 1-1.
The homestanding Hawks won their first six games to start the season before stumbling into two losses in the Ram Hardwood Classic.
Skyline led throughout the first half against Spring Mills before fouls began to pile up and the size of the reigning West Virginia State Champions began to take its toll.
The Cardinals pulled away with a 17-4 run to close things out.
The following night against Central, it was more of the same through the first 3 quarters with Skyline leading the entire way.
Then in the fourth quarter, Central tightened up their defense leaving the Hawks scoreless in the final frame and Derek Batiz- Lugo took over scoring the game winning 3 pointer and the game’s final 9 points.
Skyline bounced back into the win column, 66-47, on their most recent outing against Sherando with a balanced scoring attack that saw 5 players in double figures (Cameron Kerns 13 points, Day’Shawn Haley 12 points, Zayden Burks 12 points, Mark Jeffries 10 points, Bentley Frye 10 points).
Millbrook will look for their bounce back against Skyline after a tough loss at home to Handley.
Millbrook hung around with one of the favorites to win the VHSL Class 4 title before falling 63-55.
The Judges were without top scorer Will Braun-Duin, but Jaevon Brisco (20 points), Kyren Oglesby(16 points), and Christian Dinges (19 points) shouldered the load in his absence.
Fouls piled up on the Pioneers which led to Handley reaching the bonus in 3 of 4 quarters and they made it count shooting 17/22 from the line.
Coach Erick Green Sr.’s squad did not go quietly into the night and won the fourth quarter 20-14 behind senior leader Rylee Baker and sophomore spark plug Keanen Dennis.
The loss halted Millbrook’s second four game winning streak this season, but now the Pioneers will head back on the road where they have played incredibly well this season.
Seven of Millbrook’s eight wins have came on the road and all four games in the most recent winning streak came on the road with Baker silencing crowds across the region.
During that stretch, he averaged 26.8 points per game and each win came by 12+.
Baker will need a performance on pace with those outings to take out the Hawks Tuesday night and the game appears to be a matchup of a team with the best player on the floor vs the more balanced team.
Skyline’s team defense has improved lately and could be the difference to limit Baker and the Pioneers.
Millbrook should have an advantage on the glass due to their size, but Skyline’s athleticism will make that size a liability when attempting on-ball defense.
I look for Skyline’s balanced approach to help them hold on after a back-and-forth game, Hawks 67-Pioneers 65.
Click here for Josh Kirby’s interviews with tonight’s coaches Harold Chunn and Erick Green Sr.
