State tournament: Miller Grove boys rock Tucker for AAAA title

Miller Grove held Tucker without a field goal in the first and third quarters, sped to a 20-2 lead and won its first state championship in any sport Friday with a 59-31 victory in the Class AAAA boys final at Gwinnett Arena.

Miller Grove, which opened in 2005 in DeKalb County, is the newest public school to win a boys state basketball title since 2-year-old Randolph-Clay in 1983.

“My goal was to win a state championship since the eighth grade,” said Miller Grove point guard Mfon Udofia, who has signed with Georgia Tech. “It’s the reason I came to Miller Grove. I wanted to build our own legacy.”

Tucker’s 31 points are the fewest in a boys final since Marist beat Lithonia 46-30 in 2000.

“Against a great team like Tucker with the stars they have, that’s almost unheard of,” Miller Grove coach Eddie Johnson said. “We’ve been preaching defense. I tell them when they do that, there’s no team in the state, maybe the country, that can mess with you.”

Joe Caldwell and Stephen Hill took turns covering Tucker star Manny Atkins, who scored 16 points but made only two field goals.

Miller Grove (27-3) led 20-2 a minute into the second quarter and didn’t allow a basket until Atkins scored in the lane with 5:47 left in the first half.

Udofia scored 12 points and was Miller Grove’s only player with more than nine.

Tucker finished 24-9.