Without its big man, Earle able to find the way
EARLE 76, MARIANNA 66
QUITMAN — Earle senior Leeandrew Milow left Saturday afternoon’s Class 2A semifinal with rival Marianna after drawing his third foul with 2:24 to play in the third quarter and the game tied at Quitman High School.
Milow, a 6-5 center, was giving Marianna fits on the floor with 19 points and 9 rebounds.
After he sat down, the rest of the Bulldogs rose up, outscoring Marianna 32-22 to beat their 2A-6 Conference foes 7666 and advance to the Class 2A boys state title game.
“Four seed,” Earle Coach Carl Miller said of the Bulldogs, who had been defeated soundly in their two previous matchups with Marianna. “Four seed.”
Milow never re-entered the game, Miller said, because the Bulldogs didn’t need him.
Sophomore guard Rholly Davis Jr. took the leadership baton from Milow and anchored Earle’s run to victory by scoring 21 of his game-high 32 points in the game’s final 10:24.
“I feel like I had to step up,” Davis said. “It was a big game. They beat us two times in a row. I felt like I had to step up and bring the win home.”
David said he and his teammates weren’t down when Milow left the game with the three fouls.
He said they knew they had to keep the Bulldogs afloat until the start of the fourth quarter when Milow was expected to return.
But Earle was up 52-49 at the end of three quarters, and Miller said he liked the matchup on the floor without Milow.
“That was my fast group,” Miller said.
Quickly, Earle extended its lead behind the play of Davis and Donnie Cheers III, going up 58-49 with 6:45 to play.
Marianna never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.
“We had mostly four guards on the floor, one big,” Davis said. “They had two bigs on the floor, three guards.
“I just feel like, when [Milow] came out, we had the better advantage. And I felt so good in the fourth quarter. I scored like six in a row. … We came in as the No. 4 seed. We just wanted to show who were really were.”
Marianna Coach Emmanuel Wade, a former player at the school who later played on Ole Miss’ 2003 Sweet 16 NCAA team, said the game did not come down to Milow leaving the game.
“This is one of those games where we needed to have 15 people in the foxhole,” Wade said. “And I don’t think we really got that from the complete group. [I] think our minds were halfway in Hot Springs, and the fact we beat that team previously.”
Marianna (29-5) defeated Earle (21-9) in two of the three meetings before Saturday, winning 69-59 Jan. 17 and 5744 in the 2A North Regional.
Earle won the first time the teams met, 50-47, on Dec. 3.
“This game came down to the loose ball war and who wanted the game the worst,” Wade said. “We didn’t want it bad enough. This was all about effort. We had to match their intensity. We did at times, but you have to do it for four quarters. We played well at times, and you can’t do that when you’re trying to win a state title.
“I’m sure they were very driven to beat us this time, especially since we beat them the last few times.
“Tonight, was one of those win or go home situations. And they weren’t ready to go home, apparently.”
Marianna was led by Kelvin Bowers’ 14 points and 11 from John Perry. The Trojans’ go-to guy, Terran Williams, was held to six points.
ENGLAND 47, LAVACA 33
England, using a sticky zone defense, defeated Lavaca in Saturday night’s late semifinal to earn a shot at a second consecutive Class 2A state title.
The Lions (29-5) led 27-17 at halftime and were never threatened in the second half behind the scoring of Tamarious Dodson (22 points) and Kevante Davis (13), and a zone defense Coach Trent Morgan turned to early in the first quarter
Morgan, the Lions’ first-year coach, said two early baskets by Lavaca’s Cayden Hearn prompted a switch from man-toman to zone, and the Lions took control.
“What happened was, they went straight into their big guys and got four,” he said. “I said, ‘No more.’ We had to settle it down and change the dynamic of the game. We knew it was going to be low scoring once we went to that zone.”
Lavaca (24-5) was led by Hearn’s 14 points.