By Thomas Sellers Jr.
There are many levels to learning how to become a winner.
One of those lessons is never taking an opponent for granted. Earlier this season the Millington Lady Trojans traveled to Bolivar Central and dominated the Lady Tigers. The rematch took place Friday night in the William Osteen Gymnasium.
Bolivar came ready for some revenge behind the play of Brionna Brooks, Chloe Griffin and Carley Daniels. After one quarter it was clear there will be no repeat of Dec. 18’s 62-41 final. The Lady Tigers held a 10-5 lead and only trailed 14-12 entering the first quarter.
“We thought we already had the game won,” Lady Trojans Head Coach Jason Nichols acknowledged. “But you have to still play the game. We made runs and pulled out the win.”
Millington outlasted Bolivar in the seesaw affair 68-60. The Lady Trojans used pressure defense and timely shooting to pull out the District 15-2A victory.
Jerilynn Richardson drilled a three-pointer to make the score 10-8. After a Daniels bucket in the post, Lady Trojan Daijah Dailey hit a baseline jumper to make the score 12-10. Then her teammate Jontavia Bonner deadlock the game at 12-12 with a put-back basket. Millington grabbed the lead when Micaiah Halliburton made a steal and converted the layup.
In the second quarter the Lady Tigers made it clear it would be a tight game all night when Brooks hit a three-pointer to make the score 15-14. The first half remained tight as Lady Trojan Keria McGhee and Bailey Boone traded baskets with Daniels. Millington head a 26-23 advantage at the break.
The third quarter belonged to the Lady Trojans in the early moments with Millington jumping out 44-30.
Richardson score 5 points in that stretch. McGhee dropped 7 points in helping build that lead. The Lady Trojans were ahead 46-36 entering the fourth quarter.
Bolivar received a comeback spark from Nevaeh Bunch with a bucket. Daniels made a shot in the post to make the score 46-40. Halliburton snapped the Lady Trojans out of their funk with a three-pointer.
The Lady Tigers proceeded with a 9-4 run to make the score 53-47. It was Richardson’s turn to stop the Bolivar momentum with a triple.
Down the stretch Millington received clutch rebounds and foul shots from Boone to pull out the win.
“Bolivar never quit and Daniels is a hack of a player and leader for them,” Nichols said. “We learned we can’t take people for granted. Like my mom says, ‘You’ve got to kill a gnat with a sledgehammer.’ Big up to my freshman Bailey Boone.
“She had 18 and 9 tonight,” he added. “She went 6 of 6 from the free throw line. I’ve been on her because she was 6 of 29 from the free throw line coming into the game. She stepped up and led us tonight. Ugly win by I’ll take it.”
Millington improved to 3-2 in league play and hope to continue to win to earn a home game this postseason.
“What we need to do and Sunday it’s going to start, we need to get back to playing our type of basketball,” Nichols concluded. “That’s 25 to 30 assists a game and sharing that ball.”
