Boys Basketball
Miller Grove holds off St. John Bosco, 53-50 for third


  



Sat, Dec 20, 2014 @ Iolani


Final 1 2 3 4  
St. John Bosco 13 16101150
Millenium 18 13 10 1253
A. Gilbert 26 pts  4 3pm  2/3 FTs
V. Jackson 12 pts  10/12 FTs
L. West 9 tot  4 off  5 def
J. Bell 10 tot  5 off  5 def
J. Jackmon 1 ast
J. Tate 1 ast

Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.) held on to beat St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.), 53-50 to take third place on the final night of the Iolani Classic on Saturday night.

"I think we grew a lot as a team in this tournament," said Miller Grove coach Sharman White. "We were in the same position on Thursday when we played Orange Lutheran, we had to be resilient and had to make plays on both ends— offensively and defensively. I'm proud of the guys the way they stepped up and made plays. Bosco made a good run and they are a great team and made a good run and we had to withstand that run."

"I felt like we grew as a team and we had a game earlier in the week and we had adversity and it was a close game and couldn't finish it. We went through adversity as a team and it showed today it showed today we grew as a team and came out on top," said Wolverines' point guard Alterique Gilbert, who averaged 17.5 points per game in the tournament.

The original matchup for third place was supposed to be between Bosco and Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) however, since both teams belong in the same league and according to league rules, they cannot play each other until the regular season. The Lancers played host Iolani and prevailed, 72-54 to take fifth place.

"I've been wanting to come to this tournament for quite a while. It was everything I was told it would be and it was better. The basketball was really good and it was extremely organized. You see good basketball and I saw good basketball across the board," said Bosco coach Derrick Taylor.

Gilbert led all scorers with 26 points and made four 3-pointers. Lamont West added 12 points and nine rebounds and Gamaun Boykin chipped in 10 for the Wolverines.

"He played a great floor game— he balanced between hitting some outside shots early and mixed it up and started going inside and creating plays and creating shots for other guys," said White, on Gilbert.

"I just tried to have a good floor game and get everyone involved. I'm a small point guard and I try to score so I try to lead my team anyway I can. They tried to put a bigger defender on me and I was smaller and quicker than him and I took advantage of it and being able to take it to the rack and getting my teammates involved was my plan," said Gilbert.

Jackson (20.0 ppg) scored a team-high 12 points and made 10 of 12 free throws and Henderson (16.3 ppg) added 11 points and made three 3-pointers for the Braves.

"We knew they would be shooting the ball and watched some film on them this morning. We knew they were good shooters, we wanted to do as much as we can to get them out of their comfort zone and chase them off the line and put it on the ground. We did that for the most part, we lost them in the first half, but in the second half we did a much better job and made some good adjustments," said White.

The Wolverines jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead after Raylon Richardson's drive. Miller Grove was able to push the lead to 10, 17-7 after a putback from Gilbert.

Gilbert was hot and hit 3 of his 4 3-pointers to start the second quarter. His third 3 gave the Wolverines a 27-15 lead. However the Braves battled back and managed to tie the game on a 12-0 run after Jordan Bell made a field goal from the left block.

Bosco continued to rally and cut the lead to 2, 41-39 after Rodney Henderson drained a 3-pointer before the buzzer.

The Wolverines had 12 offensive rebounds in the game that gave them extra offensive opportunities.

"One of our things is we are working on is being aggressive on offensive rebounds. We challenge our big guys and some of our guards to go after the rebounds to create extra opportunities because we are not going to make every shot," said White.

"We have a competitive spirit and we had a tough game from last night. We were a little down from last night and came back up. They pounded us on the glass and they were able to get second and third shots and that was the game, they played with more energy and focus than we did," said Taylor.

Henderson drove and was injured on the play, so Jesus Zesati nailed two free throws to tie it at 41. Jordan Bell sank a 3-pointer from the right corner to give the Braves a five point lead, 46-41. Gilbert made a coast-to-coast layup as he was fouled and his free throw tied it at 46. Boykin made a jumper to give the Wolverines a 52-50 lead.

Jackson had a chance to take the lead with a 3-pointer for the Braves, but missed and West grabbed the rebound and was fouled. West made 1 of 2 free throws, Bell grabbed the rebound, passed it to Henderson who missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

"Their defense was good and we did get some looks and I thought it was something we could've handledI think the mistakes we make are correctable and I think it's mostly mental focus and experience," said Taylor.

Both teams spoke highly of the quality competition and the enjoyed their experience coming to Hawaii.

"It was a wonderful experience. The competition was second to none, we would've like to win the whole tournament, but finishing third was a big thing for our team and going 3-1 against quality competition. We'll take this and take it home to use it as growth as we continue throughout our season. I'm proud of the way our guys performed and the way they bonded out here. It was a remarkable atmosphere for basketball," said White.

"It was a great experience. Our coaches made sure we had a great time, but made sure we were here for business. Hawaii is a great scene for young people and I hope I can be back soon," said Gilbert.

"We are comfortable with traveling and I try to create a balance of playing and having fun. You come here and take this beautiful experience coming to Hawaii and you get to play basketball too? You can't beat that and that's an experience in it's own right," said Taylor. 



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].




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