In years past, a state playoff matchup between the Norcross Blue Devlis and Milton Eagles would likely have been reserved for the later rounds. The two heavyweights - who between them have won seven state titles in the last eight seasons - met in the first round on Saturday in Norcross, and the Blue Devils used a late second-half run to move past the Eagles 49-36.
The Blue Devils (23-6), a No. 2 seed from Region 7-AAAAAA and the defending state champs, will advance to play Dacula, a No. 4 seed from Region 8 who shocked Alpharetta (Region 6, No. 1 seed) with a 60-52 win on Saturday. Norcross will host Dacula on Tuesday.
The Eagles finished 17-11 as a No. 3 seed out of Region 5.
Ricky Madison helped to close the game out for the Blue Devils, scoring the team’s first eight points of the fourth quarter to put them up 36-24 with 4:30 remaining. He finished the quarter with 10 points and led all scorers with 13 points.
“We just played in transition, got more boards and played defense,” said Madison, a 6-foot-6 junior, on how the Blue Devils pulled away.
Both offenses started slow, with Norcross taking a 14-11 lead into halftime. Milton’s Zach Hodskins hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 19 with 4:25 remaining in the third quarter, but the Eagles never got any closer.
Lorenzo Carter (11 points) ignited the home crowd with two second-half dunks, the first coming off an alley-oop from an in-bounds pass, and the second a two-handed jam that put the Blue Devils up 40-27 with three minutes to go.
The Blue Devils’ defense didn’t allow a double-digit scorer from the Eagles, who were led by Shawn O’Connell’s 8 points.
Blue Devils coach Jesse McMillan credits his team’s defense for making the difference in the second half.
“The defense bothered them. They started taking perimeter jump shots. Maybe their legs started going a little bit, and we rebounded and that’s what we want to do. We want to rip the rebounds and run and we were able to build a little cushion.”
Saturday’s contest was the first between the two schools since the 2011 Class AAAAA state championship, which the Blue Devils won 59-55.
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