By Thomas Sellers Jr.
The opening moments of the Brighton Cardinal vs. Millington Trojan contest, the two teams were trading baskets on the William Osteen Gymnasium court.
After Millington’s Blake Garner shoveled a pass to a cutting Chris Barnes leading to a layup, the contest was tied at 7-7. Then the Trojans turned up the defensive pressure holding the Cardinals scoreless until the 4:50 mark of the second quarter. By that time Millington was ahead 23-7. The Trojans proceeded to take the Highway 51 showdown 65-29.
Minus key players Diego Reyes and Seth Grandberry, Millington senior point guard Winston Moore said he wasn’t worried about missing some firepower coming into the Brighton game.
“The main thing coach always talking about it being unselfish,” he said. “Everybody has to be unselfish. We play as a team. We don’t play divided. Undivided makes a strong team. My job is to facilitate. I have to know my teammates and put them in a good situation. My mindset is to look at the defense and put my teammates in a situation where they can score.”
Millington Head Coach Jewell Gates employed guards like Moore to locate scorers like Blake Garner, Chris Barnes, Josh Harris, Greg Johnson and newcomer BJ Gilmore.
“I love it over here,” Gilmore said. “I have a great opportunity with this being my last year of high school.”
Gilmore drained a pair of foul shots in the first quarter that broke the 7-7 deadlock. To close out the opening period Gilmore drained a three-pointer to make the tally 19-7.
In the second quarter Gilmore drove to the rim for a bucket to make the scoreboard read 23-7. Brighton’s Aiden Maclin ended the Cardinal drought with a drive to the basket for a layup. Then it was Barnes’ turn to take over the scoring punch for Millington with a bucket at the rack and a triple to make the score 28-9.
Brighton managed 9 points in the second quarter missing layups and falling victim to the Millington pressure defense at midcourt. The Trojans held a 36-16 advantage at halftime.
Millington won the third period 16-10 with Moore dishing out three assists to the likes of fellow senior Harris.
“BJ, Greg, Blake, just the addition of them is so great for our team,” Moore noted. “We have Chris, Josh and Diego as well. It makes it so much easier on Seth and me compared to previous years. We don’t have to look to score. That’s his job too but not my job. My job is to make us a great team.”
Barnes had a game-high 19 points. Two other Trojans hit double figures with Johnson scoring 11 points to go with 9 rebounds.
Gilmore nailed 17 points and Harris snatched down 12 rebounds in the game. The Trojans shot 19 of 26 inside the three-point line.
Gilmore said the Brighton win proves the Trojans are building chemistry and depth.
“Great players have to take on big responsibilities,” he concluded.
