The Men’s Basketball team is rolling into the 2nd round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) state playoffs coming off a NAC-6 conference championship victory over Wakefield. The team locked up a 4th seed in the East and defeated the 29th-ranked Jack Britt Buccaneers 56-46 on Tuesday, February 27.
The Wildcats finished the regular season with 18-7 and 11-1 (including 2 wins in the conference tournament) in the NAC 6. The team currently holds the longest playoff streak in the state with an impressive 28 straight seasons. Four-star forward, Colt Langdon, finished with an impressive 26.6 PPG average and added back-to-back Conference Player of the Year to his trophy case.
Senior Point Guard Jacob Lawton spoke about the team dynamic and what helps them succeed. He said, “We are always going to be a family, off the court we are all close, it’s like a real brotherhood. We’ve grown up together these last four years and we are just a family of guys who love to play basketball together.”
Brotherhood is a focal point of what Millbrook basketball is about. It was evident when I got to catch up with players like Lawton and Langdon postgame after their conference semi-final win over the Rolesville Rams, 98-66 Langdon added to Lawton’s answers by saying, “We can only beat ourselves. If we just play our game, we can beat anybody in the state.”
Even after Millbrook coasted through the NAC, they had their eyes set on the top prize, a state championship. The team has plenty of talent to compete with the other top teams with players like senior forwards Kyrie Heredia, Alex Olander, and Blake Bartney, who are all key contributors to the squad’s sustained success. The team has a top-ten strength of the schedule and four of the team’s seven losses are by three points or less.
This 2023-24 team is looking to keep the rich basketball tradition alive and reclaim the state championship that has eluded Millbrook since 2021. Come support the Cats this Friday, March 1 in Millbrook Gymnasium at 6 P.M for Round 2 against the Clayton Comets.
