By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Familiarity and cohesion were on display opening night by the visiting MHEA Eagles.
But the host team that has been limited in its practices in the William Osteen Gymnasium looked like a unit figuring out things Nov. 17 under the new lights. The Millington Trojans were a step behind the Eagles all night leading to a 92-55 season-opening defeat to the Eagles.
“They’ve played some games,” Millington Trojans Head Coach Jewell Gates said. “They were in Missouri last weekend or somewhere like that. They had played 3 or 4 games. And it shows. We haven’t played any games. And it surely showed.
“We hadn’t scrimmage or had a jamboree,” he added. “But you can’t use those as excuses. I am not an excuses-kind-of guy. We didn’t play, we didn’t defend, we didn’t play hard. So that’s going to equal a loss. It might not be a 40-point loss sometimes. But it will be a loss. Tonight it was a 40-point loss.”
The Eagles flew out at 7-0 lead behind a Luke Shoemaker basket and Luke Guess three-pointer. Millington’s first points of the 2020-21 season came courtesy of Joshua Harris with a put-back bucket. He drew a foul and completed the three-point play to make the scoreboard read 7-3.
As the flow of the game was taking shape, Trojan junior guard Seth Grandberry made a steal leading to a layup and drilled a triple that make the score 13-8 in favor of the Eagles.
Then MHEA closed out the first quarter on a 19-0 run. Eagles like Jack Zwirleir and Jarrett Vaughn contributed to the rally. The start of the outburst was Eagles junior Justin Morgan.
Morgan threw down a slam dunk that made the score 13-3 earlier in the period. His first three-pointer of the game made the tally 29-8.
MHEA opened the second quarter ahead 32-8. Millington’s drought ended when Chris Barnes made a couple of baskets in the lane. Ahead 34-12, the Eagles flew away behind the sharpshooting of Morgan.
Morgan nailed three straight beyond NBA-range triples to make the score 46-12. It took Harris’ second three-point play to end Morgan’s personal ran.
“To say we’re seriously young, I can’t agree,” Gates noted. “Because experience is supposed to be the best teacher. The two sophomores played in District 15-2A last year. They’ve been out there in some stuff. The two juniors that started tonight, they started as sophomores in District 15-2A. They are supposed to know what is what by tonight.
“The freshman who started, No. 23, well OK,” he added. “He still thinks he’s in the eighth grade and can physically go by people like he did in eighth grade. That is physically impossible anymore. You’re not going against 12-year-olds. Now you’re playing against 16-, 17-, 18- and 19-year-old men. That’s difficult for him because he’s learning how to play against guys bigger and more physically stronger than he. He hasn’t done that in a long time.”
The MHEA game was the introduction of Trojan Blake Garner. The ninth-grader got the start and his introduction to varsity basketball.
Garner along with other players like Harris, Barnes and Diego Reyes took turns trying to guard Morgan. Morgan finished with a game-high 29 points.
The offensive star for the Trojans was Grandberry in the third quarter. With the halftime deficit 61-24 in favor of MHEA, Grandberry came out the locker room with 5 quick points. The Millington guard used his dribble and more developed body to create shots in the lane.
He tallied most of the Trojans’ 24 points in the third period.
The Eagles were comfortably ahead 88-48 at the end of the third quarter and went on to win 92-55.
“Four of our five starters, started in at least 15 games last year,” Gates said. “From January to the end of the season, four out five, that excuse doesn’t factor with me about us being young.
“I hope we learn that we have to play better and harder,” the veteran coach noted. “I think MHEA played harder than we did. They’ve got a little bit more talent, well maybe a lot more talent. But they played harder. When you play harder the good things are going to happen for you. You’re going to make jump shots and you deserve to make jump shots because you’re playing harder.”
Gates said his players have to develop a no-excuses mentality and execute effort the rest of the season.
“The harder you play the easier for you it is to score,” he concluded. “You play harder you’ll get the easier basket. You get the wide open layups.”
