SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Shannon Scott was booed by a pack of fans early in the first quarter Saturday when he made a fundamental layup instead of going for the highlight reel slam dunk against top-ranked
Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.).
Jordan Loyd shows off Milton's
quickness, dribbling past Ben
McLemore.
Photo by Lonnie Webb
Those boos quickly transformed into cheers as Scott, a 6-foot-2 guard who has signed to Ohio State, put on a dominating performance, scoring 12 of his 22 points in the first quarter, propelling
Milton (Ga.) to a 75-69 upset victory in the premier game of the 10th annual Spalding Hoophall Classic at Springfield College.
"Our game plan was to jump on them real fast and get them off their momentum early," Scott said. "We got on them early so they had to come back the whole game."
The Eagles continuously attacked Oak Hill's man-to-man defense with speed in the first quarter, outscoring the Warriors 25-9.
Oak Hill (15-1) came in No. 1 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings while Milton (13-2) was No. 11.
Oak Hill got as close as 62-60 in the fourth quarter after a
Ketih Hornsby three-pointer, but could not pull off the comeback. The Warriors had a chance to cut the lead back to three with 1:55 remaining but
A.J. Hammons turned the ball over out of bounds down low.
"We were just playing out of character," said Oak Hill coach Steve Smith. "I don't know why, but you have to give them credit. They were the better team tonight."
Milton coach David Boyd understood Oak Hill would be bigger, stronger and have a deeper bench, but he believed his team could utilize its speed and quickness.
Two easy points for Julian Royal.
Photo by Lonnie Webb
Boyd had guards Scott and
Dai-Jon Parker (19 points) continuously slash into the teeth of the Warriors interior defense. The duo combined for 41 points.
"I'm a little bit biased on this, but I think they're the best guard combination in the country and they showed it," Boyd said.
Smith blamed his team's lack of ability to get back on defense in transition early for the large-first quarter deficit.
"In the first eight-to-10 minutes they must have had three or four run-outs, and it also got us into foul trouble," he said. "I thought we were ready to play physically, mentally and for some reason we weren't getting back on defense."
Milton had its largest lead early in the second quarter after a
Jordan Loyd (10 points) basket gave the Eagles a 35-15 lead.
However, Oak Hill used a zone defense to slowly climb back into the game, and finished the first half on an 18-10 run to cut the deficit to 45-33.
Quinn Cook had 16 points.
Photo by Lonnie Webb
Late in the third quarter,
Quinn Cook (16 points) forced a quick turnover with a steal and fed
Damien Wilson (10 points) for a quick chip-in to give Oak Hill its first lead since early in the first quarter, 51-50.
The lead was short lived as Scott bounced right back and led Milton on a 6-0 run to end the quarter and preserve the Eagles victory.
"I just felt like if we could withstand the body blows that they threw at us we could still come back and win," Boyd said. "I'm really proud of how we hung in there when they came back and took the lead."
