February 26 – Miller Grove remembers the date well.
“This is a year to a day that the greatest streak in Georgia high school basketball ended,” Miller Grove coach Sharman White said.
White is referring to last season’s loss to Warner Robins in the state tournament, which ended the Miller Grove's run of six straight state championships.
The Wolverines appear poised to start another streak this year.
Senior guard Alterique Gilbert scored 16 points, highlighted by a two-handed reverse dunk late in the fourth quarter of Miller Grove’s 66-41 rout of South Paulding on Friday in a Class AAAAA quarterfinal game at Columbus State University.
The Wolverines advanced to semifinal round and will face the Riverwood-McIntosh winner at 8:15 p.m., Saturday at Columbus State.
In their all white uniforms with purple trim and purple Nike high-tops, the Wolverines looked sharp. They overwhelmed a solid South Paulding team with in-your-face defense that generated transition offense.
Miller Grove led 37-20 at halftime and was never seriously threatened in the second half. But White wouldn’t let his squad take its foot off the gas. After an South Paulding bucket to start the fourth quarter, White implored his team to say in the game after a lackluster defensive possession to open the fourth quarter.
A few minutes later Gilbert took flight and capped another impressive performance by the focused Wolverines.
“We’ve been playing with our chip on our shoulder all year,” White said. “We didn’t like losing last year.”
South Paulding junior guard Kane Williams led the Spartans with 23 points.
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