DULUTH, Ga. --- Many Richmond Academy boys basketball players crumpled to the floor after their loss to Miller Grove on Wednesday night in the Class AAAA state semifinals.
Back | Next 
The players had exhausted themselves battling a taller, more prestigious opponent and came up one point short. Miller Grove scored eight unanswered points in the fourth quarter to down Richmond Academy 61-60 at Gwinnett Arena. The defending state champion Wolverines beat Richmond Academy for the second consecutive season here and will play Mays at 4:45 p.m. Friday at Gwinnett Arena for the state title. Richmond Academy was seeking its first GHSA boys basketball state title.
"It speaks for itself -- it was a one-point game," Richmond Academy coach Steve Nobles said. "We left it all out there."It was our mistakes (that lost the game). We just had mental breakdowns several times. We should have taken better care of the ball in the fourth quarter."
The Wolverines started one player shorter than 6-foot-4 and brought in 6-9 Tony Parker off the bench. Richmond Academy has one player taller than 6-3, but neutralized the Wolverines' inside game.
"We may have even out-rebounded them," Nobles said. "A GHSA official came up to me and told me they had more talent than us. I really don't think that. ... You just have to play a 32 full minutes to beat them."
Richmond Academy led by seven points with five minutes left -- the largest any team would ever lead -- but didn't hit another field goal the rest of the game.
What's more, Miller Grove's 6-8 forward Henry Brooks fouled out with 4:43 left. Desmond Lofland made two free throws, and Richmond Academy again was in control. Miller Grove then ran off eight consecutive points, including a pair of layups generated by Musketeers' turnovers in the backcourt.
Miller Grove fouled Raston Brown (team-best 16 points) shooting a 3-pointer with 38.5 seconds left. He made two. The Wolverines then made 1 of 2 free throws on possessions sandwiching a Richmond Academy turnover. The Musketeers had a chance to send the game to OT, but Lofland (13 points) back-rimmed a 3-pointer. The Musketeers' tipped in the basket two seconds before the final buzzer. Out of timeouts, they could only watch as the clock expired.
Miller Grove players walked the hallway after the game talking about how they would blow out Mays in Friday's title game.
"We needed that type of game," said Miller Grove coach Sharman White, whose team has been mostly unchallenged by Georgia teams this year. "We just made some huge stops in the fourth quarter. We made some stops on 'D' that won us the game."
A GHSA official game up to him and said what, if it was me, I would have said get out of my face... and got his name and reported him RIGHT THEN to the head GHSA rep present. I hope he wasn't a ref, if he was he may have been bias towards ARC and gave favorable calls to Miller Grove. Coach should check into this or atleast email GHSA president Dr. Swearngin.
Congrats to the players and coaches you had a wonderful season from a up close and personal view.
I was actually at the game, and most of the calls the refs made were in Miller Grove's favor.
If a school wins a state championship two years in a row, the state gets some type of grant. And I am sure that the refs get part of it, so therefore, they wanted to make sure that Miller Grove won.
RICHMOND ACADEMY ARE THE REAL CLASS AAAA 2010 BASKETBALL STATE CHAMPIONS!!!! GO MUSKETEERS!!
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
