The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Milan fights to the end of long season
Chelsea eliminates Big Reds in district first round, 76-49
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 28, 2008
There were less than 30 seconds remaining in the Milan boys' basketball team's season. The Big Reds were down by nearly 30 points to Chelsea in what would be a 76-49 defeat in Monday's opening round of the district tournament. It would be the last 30 seconds of Big Red senior Lance Smith's career.
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Nonetheless, after a Chelsea rebound, Smith hounded the Bulldogs center in the backcourt, leaped to deflect the outlet pass, and pounced on the loose ball to give Milan another possession.
It's that kind of commitment in the face of adversity, even when the outcome has been decided, that head coach Jeremy Davies said his 2007-08 Big Reds should be remembered alongside their disappointing 1-20 final record.
"They never quit," he said. "We had practice at 5:45 and they were there. They did what we asked them to do.
"I told them, 'Life isn't basketball, but basketball is life.' Sometimes you work your rear end off, all day, everyday, and you just don't get that promotion or raise you wanted. Our guys did the work. It just didn't pay off the way we'd hoped."
The Big Reds nearly saw some reward with their second victory of the year in their regular season finale Saturday at Onsted.
After trailing 34-29 at halftime and 47-37 entering the fourth quarter, the Big Reds rallied for 24 points in the fourth quarter and made it a one-possession game. But at the final buzzer it was the home team that held on for the victory, 64-61.
"We were able to get them out of their offense with our press and traps the same way we had against Airport," Davies said. "We fell behind by a little bit and didn't give up. But in the end, we didn't get the win."
Seniors Zach McGovern and Brandon Duval (who hit a team-high three three-pointers) shared the team lead on the scoresheet with 14 points each. They were joined in double digits by Mike Craig with 11 points, followed by Andy Kuck with six, Nick Holzman with five, Smith with four, Paul Irwin and Joe Ewer with three each, and DeAndre Mitchell with one.
Unfortunately for the Big Reds, their game at home against Chelsea wouldn't be nearly as thrilling. The Bulldogs jumped out to an 11-2 lead with a Kuck basket Milan's only scoring for the first four minutes.
Back-to-back McGovern baskets in a 14-second span brought Milan within 11-6 at the 3:44 mark of the first quarter, but that was as close as the Big Reds would come. Chelsea would stretch the lead to 18-8 by the end of the quarter and to 21 points, 39-18, at halftime.
A three by Ewer to start the second half and two free throws from Irwin brought Milan within 16 less than 90 seconds into the third quarter, and the Big Reds would crawl within 46-31 on a Kuck basket with 3:09 to play in the period. But any hope of a Milan comeback ended as Chelsea ripped off the next 13 points and led 59-33 entering the fourth quarter.
"We did some things well. I thought we did OK in the half-court defense," Davies said. "But these starts are what's killed us. You can't fall behind 9-0 right off the bat against a good team and expect to win. We started pressing and trapping to try and get back in the game and that bothered them a little, but they got used to it and were able to get some easy baskets, too."
McGovern scored 12 to lead the Big Reds, followed by Kuck and Ewer with 11 points, a season-high for both. Irwin added eight points, Smith four, Duval two, and Craig one.
The game was the final one in the careers of Milan seniors McGovern, Smith, Duval, and Ewer. (Senior Cody Chatfield missed the game through injury.) Davies said that it was seniors' determination that held the Big Reds together through the difficult times this year.
"They could have packed it in a long time ago and lost every game we played by 30 points," he said. "Instead they kept working and gave themselves the opportunity to win some games down the stretch."
Davies also gave each of his seniors credit for their improvement even in the face of their struggles.
"You look at someone like Brandon Duval, he's someone who went from not having a lot of confidence to hitting a lot of big shots for us and having a lot of confidence in his shot," Davies said. "That's a success. That's what success is."
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