Jackson leads Millbrook to OT win over Handley
Millbrook’s Jordan Jackson (5) applies defense against Handley’s Emerson Ferguson during the second quarter of Friday’s Class 4 Northwestern District clash at Casey Gymnasium. Jackson scored six of his 14 points in overtime as the Pioneers netted a 50-42 victory.
- WALT MOODY/The Winchester Star
Millbrook's Tyson Stewart directs traffic as Handley's Kemani Curry defends during Friday's Class 4 Northwestern District game at Casey Gymnasium. Stewart scored a career-high 19 points in the Pioneers' 50-42 overtime win.
- WALT MOODY/The Winchester Star
WINCHESTER — Millbrook's Jordan Jackson had the best — or maybe worst — view of the dramatic 3-pointer by Handley's Demitri Gardner that sent Friday's Class 4 Northwestern District basketball clash into overtime.
Jackson was guarding Gardner as the Judges standout launched his shot from beyond the top of the key that tied the contest.
But in the four minutes that followed, it was Jackson and his teammates making all of the big plays. The senior guard scored six of the Pioneers' eight points in overtime as they held Handley scoreless in a 50-42 victory at Casey Gymnasium.
Tyson Stewart had a career-high 19 points and Jackson netted 14 as Millbrook (12-4, 8-0) won for the 10th straight time and solidified its two-game lead in the district by completing a season sweep of the three-time defending champion Judges (7-8, 4-3).
After a riveting fourth period, it looked like the Pioneers wouldn't need extra time to knock off Handley, which had rallied from a 12-point deficit in the first half.
Following a Judges turnover, Julien Hagerman calmly drilled two free throws with 6.5 seconds left to put Millbrook ahead 42-39. With a foul to give, the Pioneers took it and Handley then had just 5.1 seconds left to travel three-quarters the length of the court.
The Judges inbounded to Gardner, the area's leading scorer, who zig-zagged up the court then launched his game-tying 3-pointer, hitting nothing but net as the Handley faithful went bananas in the packed gym.
Yet with all of the momentum on the Judges' side, it was Millbrook — and particularly Jackson — that controlled the extra period.
“You've just got to clear your head,” said Jackson. “It's a whole new ballgame once the clock resets. We had to play those four minutes like it was our last and that's what we did to come out with a victory.”
“It's a very difficult setup,” added Pioneers coach Steven Grubs. “Anytime you have a three-point lead with six seconds left, you're telling them to guard that three-point line. I give all of the credit in the world because that is a ridiculously tough shot. I don't think we played it badly at all. That's an off-balance, 24-foot 3-pointer and he hits it. … From that point forward once that shot goes in, it's back to square one. It's another game.”
Handley got the opening tap and the first possession would tell the story of the overtime.
The Judges were tentative and passed the ball around for more than a minute before missing a shot.
The Pioneers misfired on their first attempt, too, but Jackson grabbed the airball and was fouled on the stickback attempt. He made the two free throws to put the Pioneers ahead for good.
Handley had a chance to tie, but Gardner missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:56 left and from there it was all Millbrook.
Jackson scored on a wide open layup after a great pass from Tarelle Hayden to make it 46-42 with 1:25 left. Hayden would add a layup and Jackson would make a pair of free throws with 30.5 seconds left ice the game.
“We just had to play with a lot of composure,” Jackson said of the extra period. “They went on runs. We went on runs.”
Jackson's stellar play in a big moment did not surprise Grubbs. The senior finished with five rebounds and four assists and made several key defensive plays down the stretch.
“He does so many great things for us,” Grubbs said. “A lot of times it goes unnoticed by people, but sometimes he doesn't fill that stat line the way people are looking for out of him. He does things on the court that make us so much better at all times.
“I know when it comes down to crunch time, he has the confidence in himself and we have the confidence in him for hm to go out and do some things. I think everyone saw tonight that when it mattered we have kids that step up.”
Handley coach Jason Toton obviously was disappointed with the way the Judges played the extra period.
“Offensively, I don't think we ran our sets very well, which I will take blame for of doing a better of getting us prepared and executing better offensively,” Toton said “We had to do a better job defensively. At times, we had certain people in man-to-man and certain people in zone. That's on us for not communicating and missing assignments.”
The Judges, who lost 59-36 to the Pioneers on Dec. 30, looked like they might get blown out again early. Stewart and Hagerman each had a pair of 3-pointers as Millbrook raced to a 16-4 lead in the first quarter.
But from there, the Judges stormed back over the remainder of the first quarter and throughout the second. Emerson Ferguson followed up his own miss to give Handley a 21-20 lead late in the second period.
“It was the same way the other night at Liberty. We got down 25-3,” Toton said. “These guys will get after it. They don't give up. They persevere. They have some grit and grime to them, which is good. They could have folded like we did last time against them.”
But like he would do a big part of the night, Stewart would drain a key shot. The senior nailed another 3-pointer that gave the Pioneers a 23-21 halftime lead. After Handley's Nick Hott tied the game at 37-37 with 3:30 to go in the final period, Stewart would sink his fifth 3-pointer of the game to put the Pioneers ahead.
“He had a great shooting night,” Jackson said of his teammate, who went 5-for-5 from beyond the arc. “I've never seen Tyson shoot like that. He played great tonight.”
“Tyson does so many good things for us,” Grubbs said of Stewart, who also had five rebounds and four assists. “If you ever watch him on the court, he's so calm. We've told him it's going to come. He's had games where he's hit two, three or four 3's and tonight he goes 7-for-8 from the field and I think he wants that other shot back. He hit some great shots within our offense.”
Gardner led Handley's balanced attack with 14 points, but that was well below his 22.6 average. The junior faced several different fresh defenders during the contest.
“All of our kids can guard people,” Grubbs said. “That's kind of the program expectation — you have to play defense. For the last 10 games or so, I think the most anyone has scored against us is the mid-50's. Most people are in the 40's and 30's against us.
“You try to limit his opportunities. He's a very, very good player. … I told them before the game, 'He he's not just going to not score, but you need to make life difficult on him.' I think for the most part we did.”
Toton said his squad needs to tighten things up.
“I told them, 'Every game, I'm not worried about what the other team is doing. We have to take care of things on our end,'” he said. “We beat ourselves by not making some point-blank layups. We missed some opportunities on free throws and giving them second-chance opportunities. I don't think we closed out hard in the first half to get a hand in the shooter's face and we had too many turnovers at costly times. Hopefully they learned that little things matter.
“We still have seven games, so it's a long season still,” Toton added. “Hopefully, we can finish in the top half of the bracket and cause some noise in the tournament.”
The Pioneers are certainly looking strong to nab the regular-season district title. James Wood is second with a 6-2 league mark.
“It's pressure again on everyone else,” Grubbs said. “We now have at least a two-game lead on everyone and a three-game lead on some people.”
