By Michael Kinney
MOORE – Earlier within the week, the Oklahoma City Millwood basketball workforce discovered themselves within the news, by no fault of their very own, for all of the unsuitable causes.
An incident took place after a tricky loss to Del City on Tuesday, and an individual was shot and despatched to the hospital.
While it had nothing to do with the Falcons, they discovered themselves being talked about statewide and it had nothing to do with their play on the hardwood.
However, gamers like Chance Davis didn’t have time to fear about such issues. With their hoop season nonetheless in full go mode, he was solely involved about his subsequent opponent.
“Just move on; it’s in the past,” Davis stated. “You can’t do anything about it. I can only control what I control.”
What Davis and his teammates might management was how they performed of their opening-round sport at John Nobles Basketball Tournament host Moore High. After letting a 20-point lead slip away, the Falcons earned a 71-60 victory to advance to the semifinals at Moore.
“We’re just trying to keep it mentally stable,” Millwood coach Michael Jeffries stated. “We’ve had a lot of turmoil this year with the kid (Daniel Howard) that played for us a couple of years back getting shot and killed (earlier this month). Then, having issues with our floor. Our floor got flooded out, so now our main gym is out; so now, I’m just trying to figure out where we’re going to play our last home games.
“Obviously, you know, we play a very, very tough schedule, so I’m just trying to keep it mentally tough, and also help them to continue to grow for the playoffs.”
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If the Falcons were affected by anything that took place earlier in the week, it sure didn’t show in the first half. They started the game on fire from the field.
Jaden Nickens was especially in the zone as he dropped four 3-pointers in the opening eight minutes as Millwood took a 28-18 first-quarter lead.
“It’s very dangerous because when I get going, they start keying on me,” Nickens stated. “So that’s what I’m working on now, getting my teammates involved.
“I am starting to trust them a lot more than I have been. That’s on me. I am trusting them more and getting them involved. And if I get them going, it’s going to open up the game for me.”
The Falcons continued to roll by way of the second quarter as they prolonged their lead to 20 factors early within the third quarter. However, the Lions started a sluggish climb again up the hill and had been ready to minimize the deficit down to 11 factors heading into the fourth quarter.
“I knew we were going to come out flat in the third quarter,” Jeffries stated. “I knew that was going to happen; so (I was) just trying to keep them disciplined. That’s the main thing.
“We got a lot of emotional kids out here, so (I was) just trying to keep everybody calm.”
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According to Nickens, the workforce stopped doing the issues that helped them get the lead within the first place.
“Going into the third quarter, we got kind of greedy and selfish,” he said. “Then, we came back out once our coach called a time out and we got regrouped.
“Everybody stayed calm, stored an excellent angle and continued to play good basketball.”
Moore continued to grind the lead down behind the play of Tristan Hankins, Malachi Lee and Ebi Bartley.
The hole was closed to 5, 50-45, when Nickens drilled a 3-pointer from the nook. He then got here down on the following possession and accomplished a three-point play that fouled out Darian Grant, which elevated the Falcons’ benefit to 11, 56-45.
After Lee got here up with a rating, Millwood turned the ball over. It was the final probability for the Lions to put some stress on the Falcons.
However, Millwood’s Carlos Strong got here up with a large blocked shot within the paint that became a pair of free throws for Davis.
“My mindset was just to stay poised and block out the noise,” Davis stated. “Just do what I was taught as a kid.”
From there, it was a gradual procession to the charity stripe for the Falcons as they closed out the night time. As a workforce, the Falcons knocked down 31 free throws.
“I tell them, every single practice, free throws win games,” Jefferies stated. “If we don’t hit those free throws, we probably would’ve lost that game. So free throws are huge, and we’ve been working a lot on them.”
Hankins paced the Lions with 19 factors. Grant posted 16 factors earlier than fouling out. Lee added 11 factors.
Nickens posted a game-high 21 factors. Davis, who hit 12 free throws, completed with 19 factors.
“The key was trusting our teammates, and knowing what everybody can do,” Davis stated. “If everybody plays their role, we’re unbeatable.”
Millwood will face Norman North at 5:30 p.m. Friday. The different semifinal matchup will function rivals No. 4 Westmoore and No. 10 Southmoore at 8:30 p.m.
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