Millers pick up rare win at Gators

Goodwin’s 27 points help avenge loss, hand Perry Hall first home defeat of season

On Monday night, Milford Mill did something that doesn’t happen often in Baltimore County. The Millers won a boys basketball game on Perry Hall’s home court, handing the Gators a 69-66 defeat.

The seventh- ranked Millers (16-2) outscored Perry Hall 15-14 in the fourth quarter to give the No. 10 Gators their first home defeat this season. Perry Hall (15-6) lost on senior night and fell to 34-2 in games when seniors Tyler Holley, Anthony Higgs, and Hardnett are playing.

The win also avenges a loss to the Gators in last year’s county championship game.

Jordan Goodwin led Milford Mill with 27 points, while Laquill Hardnett had 19 for Perry Hall.

“The tables were kind of turned this year,” Milford Mill coach Mike Silverman said. “Last season, they were the team with the experience. This year, it was us, and it really helped us down the stretch.”

The game was tightly contested in the first quarter, with no team taking more than a one-possession lead. Early in the second, however, the Gators took a 27-21 lead on a jumper and foul shot byHiggs and a 3-pointer by D.J. Cloude.

The Millers scraped their way back into the game, going on a 12-5 run before two free throws by Kevin Ufua tied the game at 33. From that point on, Milford Mill went on another 8-3 run to take a 41-36 lead at the half.

The Millers started to run away after the half, building a nine-point lead, 48-39, on a 3-pointer by Goodwin with 6:41 left in the third quarter.

Perry Hall, true to form, tied the game at 50 on a jumper by Hardnett with 1:25 left in the third quarter.

Milford Mill built an eight-point lead with 2:51 to play at 65-57, but the Gators rallied again. It appeared Perry Hall had tied the game at 67 with 42.7 seconds left, but the Gators were called for a lane violation and Milford Mill held a 67-66 lead. After Goodwin made two free throws, Perry Hall attempted two 3-pointers to tie the game in the closing seconds but could not get either to fall.

“We’ve been looking forward to this all year,” Goodwin said. “We stayed together and executed our game plan down the stretch, and I think we were in a little better shape than they were.”

For Perry Hall, the loss was heartbreaking on a night when it wanted to send its seniors out with a victory.

“They deserved to win the game,” Perry Hall coach George Panageotou said. “They played a tough down the stretch, and it wore us down. [Goodwin] just killed us. We tried everything to stop him, but he can beat you so many ways.”