By Thomas Sellers Jr.
The goal was simple Friday night for the Millington Trojans and Raleigh-Egypt Pharaohs.
Win the District 15-3A Semifinal game and you will host the Regional opener next week. The No. 3 seeded Pharaohs have been in that driver’s seat many times since the turn of the millennium. But for the No. 2 seeded Trojans, a victory over Raleigh-Egypt would give the program a chance to venture into territory for the first time in more than 20 years. By the middle of the fourth quarter, things were trending in favor of the Pharaohs of pulling off the upset and taking a top 2 spot in the Regional leading 54-45.
Millington Head Coach Jewell Gates called a timeout and refocused his group. Trojan senior guards BJ Gilmore and Chris Barnes, who were disqualified because of fouls, encouraged their teammates coming out of the huddle.
Millington responded with a 21-12 run to close out regulation and tie the game at 66-66. The Trojans won the overtime period with a Seth Grandberry three-point play and a pair of clutch Blake Garner foul shots to prevail 73-70.
“It took two words tonight to win this game,” Gates said. “The first word I would use would be heart. And the second word it took was playing like a team — teamwork. We did play with a lot of heart and as a team down the stretch in the fourth quarter and overtime.
“We showed that type of heart then,” he continued. “In the great words of Houston Rockets Coach Rudy Tomjanovich, ‘Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion.’ Tonight we showed the heart of a champion.”
Millington will host an opening round game in Regionals. Seniors Gilmore and Barnes paced the Trojans before fouling out. The quiet man on the team Josh Harris also fouled out. But the senior forward provided the blueprint for teammates Garner and Diego Reyes on how to defend the post against Raleigh-Egypt.
LADY TROJANS
The Raleigh-Egypt Lady Pharaohs were 16 minutes away from hosting a Regional Tournament game on Feb. 25.
Trailing only 26-24 to the No. 2 seeded Millington Lady Trojans Thursday night, the Lady Pharaohs were on pace to pull off the upset and still a birth into the District 15-3A Championship Game against the Fayette-Ware Lady Wildcats.
But the Lady Trojans snapped out of their funk led by the trio of Keria McGhee, Micaiah Halliburton and ninth grader Ayanna Ransom in winning the third quarter 35-6. Millington cruised to a 69-41 win and earned the title game spot and home Regional game next week.
“Who are we? I just asked the girls that,” Millington Head Coach Jason Nichols said. “We scored 35 points in the third quarter. So who are we. Are we going to be the team that scores 35 in one quarter or the team that scores 9 points in a quarter. We can’t be inconsistent. We’ve got to have consistency.”
The Lady Trojans were consistent in the first half…with negativity. Millington senior guard Kayla Dotson picked up three fouls keeping her on the bench most of the half.
Millington had defensive lapses allowing Raleigh-Egypt to take the lead multiple times and stay within striking distance. And the worst offense by the Lady Trojans in the first 16 minutes was missed layups from multiple players.
The Lady Trojans led 15-13 after the first quarter. The second quarter was even with both teams scoring 11 points. FOR THE ENTIRE STORIES SUBSCRIBE TO WWW.MILLINGTON-NEWS.COM
