Speedy strategy key for Musketeers

Preparing during practice this week to meet a giant-sized opponent in the state semifinals, Richmond Academy boys basketball coach Steve Nobles asked his manager to put 10 minutes on the clock for a particular drill. He also had a peculiar request: sound the buzzer every four seconds.

Advertisement

He wanted his team to practice speeding the ball up the court and potentially take a shot in the amount of time it takes you to glance at your wristwatch and compute the time. The Musketeers' success in working this strategy against defending state champion Miller Grove tonight will perhaps be the biggest key to their success.

The two teams meet at 8:30 in a Georgia High School Association Class AAAA state semifinal at Gwinnett Arena. The winner will play for a state title Friday at 4:45 p.m.

Miller Grove, the defending state champion, typically starts three players 6-foot-8 or taller. It defeated Richmond Academy by 15 points in last year's semifinals with a similarly imposing team. No one on Richmond Academy is taller than 6-foot-4.

"If we can not go against their set defense as much as possible, that's better on us," Nobles said. "If we have to look at 6-9 and 6-8 (players) all night, it's going to be a challenge. We have to make those bigs run the floor."

Richmond Academy has never won a GHSA state boys basketball title, according to records dating back to 1922. But this team believes it can win. Players regularly end drills and team huddles during practice by hollering in unison: "state champs." The Musketeers have won 29 games in a row since falling to Laney in November and are making back-to-back semifinal appearances for the first time since 1956-57.

"We have everything we need to win this game: guard play, big men play and we all have heart," said Richmond Academy senior guard Desmond Lofland, the Region 3-AAAA player of the year. "We will play hard no matter how big the other team is. This team is a special team; we can win it all, we have to win it all. If we lose this game, I won't be satisfied for the rest of my life."

Miller Grove returns two starters from last year's title team. (Richmond Academy returns six of its top seven players.)

The Wolverines threatened to blow the Musketeers out in last year's game, but Richmond Academy three times in the final quarter trailed by as few as two points. Miller Grove extended its lead by the end of the game, mainly because former guard and current Georgia Tech player Mfon Udofia made 15 of 17 fourth-quarter free throws.

The Wolverines are not as experienced as they were a season ago, though their defense has remained stellar. No one has scored more than 54 points on Miller Grove in the playoffs, at least in part because of its size inside.

"We just try to carry out our game plan -- it's just about trying to execute," coach Sharman White said. "Whether we go inside or outside, we're just trying to execute our game plan. ... (Our plan) is a little bit of every thing, but mainly a good brand of defense. That has contributed a lot to our success. We want that to be a staple of our program."

The Wolverines (25-6) are undefeated in their past 20 games. By blazing up and down the floor, Richmond Academy will try to become the first Georgia team to defeat the Wolverines since November.

"If we beat them down the court, they don't get the chance to challenge shots, block shots and take us come out of our comfort zone," Nobles said. "We do good when we run the ball, but we've shown we can play fast and slow."

Lofland agrees.

"That's our style." he said. "If we keep playing like that, I don't think they can run with us."