Miller Grove’s Kyair Greene (11) shoots over Luella’s Isaiah Duffy (21) and Joe Keeton (3). Greene hit for all 19 of his points in the second half to lead Miller Grove to a 60-51 comeback victory to advance to the Class 4A boys’ Elite Eight. (Photo by Mark Brock)
No. 3 ranked Miller Grove overcame a horrible first half of shooting (3-20) to rally past No. 9 ranked Luella for a 60-51 Class 4A boys’ Sweet 16 state playoff victory on Saturday at Miller Grove.
Luella (18-7) made just seven shots in the first half including a three-pointer by Joe Keeton that bounced off the rim twice before falling with under a minute left in the second quarter. The Lions took a 15-8 lead into the half as the Wolverines (15-4) had several shots that rolled off the rim.
Luella forced a timeout by Miller Grove with 6:18 to play up 20-8 as a pair of Miles Lemon baskets helped the Lions push out to a 20-8 advantage.
Coming out of the timeout Miller Grove’s Zyair Greene came alive after not scoring in the first half he drained a three-pointer and the Wolverines started to shake off unfortunate bounces to begin their big comeback.
Another Greene three and one by Tyreik Boyd got the Wolverine fans into the game as they trimmed the lead to 35-29 heading into the fourth quarter.
An offensive put back by Matthew McCullum and a three-pointer by Daveon Williams cut the lead in half and despite a three-point play by Greene Luella managed to get back out to a 43-37 lead with 5:42 to play on four points by Lemon.
Williams hit his second three of period and Boyd followed with a drive to the basket and Luella’s lead was down to one (43-42) with 4:41 remaining. Forty-four seconds later Williams struck again as Greene got an offensive rebound and passed out to his open teammate who responded with another three-pointer that hit nothing but net to give the Wolverines their first lead since 3-2 in the first quarter.
Jamarcus Glover came up big with a three-point play and another free throw to push Miller Grove’s lead out to 49-44 at the 2:06 mark.
Greene, who scored all 19 of his points in the second half, answered a pair of Luella free throws with his third three-pointer of the night for a 52-46 lead with 1:31 to play.
A Jahmil Barber layup followed by Luella miss rebounded by Greene led to two free throws by Boyd to putt more distance between the Wolverines and Lions at 56-58.
Greene would hit four free throws in the final 33 seconds while Luella managed a meaningless three-pointer for the final of 60-51.
After the horrid first half shooting the Wolverines shot 50 percent (16-32) in the second half including six big three-pointers.
Zyair Greene had a team-high 19 points for Miller Grove while Daveon Williams finished with 14 points (4 three-pointers) and Tyreik Boyd added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Luella got a game-high 20 points from Miles Lemon and 15 by Kory Miney.
The Wolverines host No. 1 Baldwin (14-0) on Wednesday at 6:00 pm in the quarterfinals.
In other boys’ action on Saturday both the Stephenson Jaguars (Class 4A), Lithonia Bulldogs (Class 5A) and Tucker Tigers (Class 6A) came up short in their bids to make the Elite 8.
The No. 8 ranked Jaguars jumped out to a 28-6 lead in the first quarter but could not off the No. 6 ranked Cedar Shoals Jaguars before falling 75-66 in overtime. EJ Walker led the way for Stephenson (11-6) with 29 points, Chase Ballard added 17 and Jaylen Peterson 10.
The No. 6 ranked Bulldogs (17-4) dug a deep hole in the first half and found themselves down by 19 (50-31) to Chapel Hill heading into the fourth quarter. A valiant comeback pulled them within 57-53 but it would not be enough as Chapel Hill (17-10) held on for a 60-53 victory.
The Tucker Tigers went on the road to No. 3 ranked Evans and fell 63-50 to end their season as 15-7.
DCSD STATE PLAYOFF REULTS
SWEET 16 ROUND
Friday, Feb. 26
Class 5A Girls
SW DeKalb (20-6) 72, Cass (25-2) 46
Class 4A Girls
Jefferson (23-4) 88, Arabia Mountain (15-3) 58
Saturday, Feb. 27
Class 2A Girls
Columbia (17-7) 50, Rabun Co. (19-7) 41
Class 6A Boys
Evans (21-2) 63, Tucker (15-7) 50
Class 5A Boys
Chapel Hill (17-10) 60, Lithonia (17-4) 53
Class 4A Boys
Miller Grove (15-4) 60, Luella (18-7) 51
Cedar Shoals (20-8) 75, Stephenson (11-6) 66 OT
Class 2A Boys
Columbia (19-6) 57, Callaway (9-10) 56
DCSD STATE PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
ELITE 8 – QUARTERFINALS
Tuesday, Mar. 2
Class 5A Girls
Woodward Academy (19-1) at SW DeKalb (19-6), 6:00 pm
Wednesday, Mar. 3
Class 4A Boys
Baldwin (14-0) at Miller Grove (15-4), 6:00 pm
Class 2A Boys
Columbia (19-6) vs. Washington Co. (16-1), 6:00 pm
Class 2A Girls
Butler (20-4) at Columbia (17-7), 2:00 pm