The Millikan Rams put on a hustle clinic in the Howard Lyons Gym last night and a huge fourth quarter lifted the home team to a 52-45 victory over Wilson. The loss drops the Bruins to 0-2 in the Moore League, while the Rams even their record at 1-1.
Inexplicably, Wilson was leading at halftime 26-21 after making the types of mistakes that lose you road games. The Bruins turned the ball over 12 times and shot 4-for-16 from the floor in the first quarter, all the while racking up the fouls.
In a league game like this, everyone knows it’s going to be physical and energetic. Mix that with a liberal whistle and you’ve got yourself a stiff foul-heavy cocktail. The two teams racked up 44 personal fouls, but the most important fouls were in the first four minutes.
Wilson forward/center Stephan Sheperd picked up his second foul in the fourth minute and sat on the bench for almost the entire half, while on the floor, Millikan took a 16-13 lead. However the lead would be short lived as Zach Reince started a 13-4 run with a nice deflection on defense and spin move on the block before the end of the half. He finished as the top scorer with 17 and 7 rebounds.
The second half was a different story though, and it was all Rams. The hustle and determination of this Millikan team is a pleasure to watch as Jeremiah Blandin, Andrew Scott and Tyler Shattuck all took Sheperd out of his game when he did finally get back on the floor (2pts, 5 reb, 5 turnovers). Guards Paul Slater and Dillon Remasaro stayed active and helped force 12 more Wilson turnovers in the second half, and Alden Darby was just Alden Darby.
The natural leader on the gridiron and hardcourt didn’t take a shot in the third quarter and came off the bench in the fourth quarter with foul trouble. He preceded to drain his first three pointer, get a steal, assist on a Blandin bucket, get another steal, grab a rebound, take it coast-to-coast, and draw the foul. He would score seven of his 12 points in the final quarter.
“He’s our spark. He’s our energy,” said Millikan coach Jeff Breuklander of Darby. “It’s just in him… he loves the big moment.”
Wilson continued to struggle on offense with Shepard ineffective and the turnovers piling up. Before a quick burst of buckets in garbage time with two minutes remaining, the Bruins had 12 points in the second half and four in the fourth quarter.
“We played well on the defensive end, and that fed the offense late,” said Breuklander. “This team is senior heavy, but they are still learning and learning how to win… they found that will to win we talk about.”