The No. 3 ranked Miller Grove Wolverines used a big 14-0 run in the third quarter to pull away to a 55-33 Class 5A boys’ second round victory over Starr’s Mill at Miller Grove on Thursday.

The Wolverines (20-8) were leading 29-16 with 6:04 left in the third quarter when they turned up the defense to force five turnovers during the 14-0 run to take complete control of the game.

Maurice Harvey’s jumper on a pass from Naquante Hardy started the run at the 5:39 mark of period. Hardy would follow with a dunk on a pass up court from Jalen Mason and a pair of free throws.

Harvey added a three on an assist from George Wilson and then returned the favor to Wilson for a three as the lead ballooned to 41-16. Hardy fed Jermon Clark underneath for a layup to finish the run with a 43-16 lead with 3:51 left in the quarter.

Nick Wiest finished a 6-1 run by Starr’s Mill (18-11) with a layup with 37 seconds left, but just 17 seconds later Mason swished home a three-pointer for the Wolverines to take a 47-22 lead into the fourth quarter.

Hardy got another dunk on a steal to open the fourth quarter which was the exclamation point on the win.

The Wolverines jumped out to a 12-0 lead to open the game which started on a Wilson steal and layup for a 2-0 lead. Hardy would have four of the points and an assist in the opening run.

Harvey ended the quarter with a steal and dunk as the clock ticked down to zero.

The lead was 16-8 to start the second quarter as Hardy passed to Mason for a three-pointer and Harvey hit a short jumper to make it 21-8 with 5:51 left in the half.

Starr’s Mill would only score four points in the second quarter and Harvey’s second steal for a dunk sent Miller Grove into the half up 27-12.

Hardy finished with a game-high 16 points and Harvey added 11 for the Wolverines who advance to the Elite 8 for the 10th consecutive season.

Miller Grove will host Riverwood (23-5) on Wednesday in the Elite 8. Riverwood advanced with a 64-63 victory over Eagle’s Landing Thursday night.

The Lithonia Bulldogs (13-16) are a surprising entry into the Elite 8 after knocking off Riverdale (12-12) 55-45 on the road for their second consecutive on the road in the playoffs.

Lithonia held just a three-point lead 45-42 with 2:08 to play, but put together an 8-0 run to go up by 10 (52-42) with just 25 seconds to play.

Zion Cain hit for 18 points and Christian Parker added 13 for the Bulldogs who advance to the Elite 8 for the third consecutive season despite losing the bulk of their 2016 squad that reached the semifinal. Lithonia travels to Cedar Shoals (25-4), a 48-35 winner over Statesboro on Thursday, on Wednesday with the time to be announced.

Two other DeKalb Class 5A teams did not fare as well as Columbia (21-8) fell 66-45 on the road at Fayette County (22-7) and Southwest DeKalb (17-13) dropped a 65-45 decision to Warner Robins (26-3) after being within three at the end of the third quarter.

The other DeKalb entry into the state playoffs was Class 3A Cedar Grove (17-7) which dropped a 71-56 decision to Jenkins (22-7) on Thursday.

Matchups for both the girls’ and boys’ state tournament quarterfinals are listed below.

DCSD BASKETBALL STATE PLAYOFFS RESULTS
Thursday, Feb. 23
Class 5A Girls
Warner Robins (27-1) 61, Columbia (16-8) 43

Boys
Class 5A
Miller Grove (20-8) 55, Starr’s Mill (18-11) 33
Fayette Co. (22-7) 66, Columbia (21-8) 45
Warner Robins (26-3) 65, SW DeKalb (17-13) 45
Lithonia (13-16) 55, Riverdale (12-13) 45

Class 3A
Jenkins (22-7) 71, Cedar Grove (17-7) 56

DCSD BASKETBALL STATE PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Feb. 28
Class 5A Girls
SW DeKalb (25-4) at Eagle’s Landing (26-3), 6:00 pm

Class 6A Girls
Stephenson (20-10) at Northview (27-3), 7:00 pm

Wednesday, Mar. 1
Class 5A Boys
Riverwood (23-5) at Miller Grove (20-8), 6:00 pm
Lithonia (13-16) at Cedar Shoals (25-4), 7:30 pm