Darlington junior’s 30-point game leads Tigers to state basketball title
MACON - When the Darlington boys needed a big play in the state championship, it was guard D.J. Hall who provided it.
The junior scored 30 points and led Darlington to a 53-50 win over defending state champion Holy Innocents’ in the Class 3A-A Private final on Wednesday at the Macon Coliseum.
The Rome school finished the season on a 19-game winning streak and brought home its first state basketball championship. The Tigers hadn’t played in the final since 1994.
“We were saving him all season long,” coach Nathan West joked. “We were saving him for the second half of the state championship game to let him loose.”
Good strategy. Hall scored 16 points in the second half. Hall shot 9-for-17 from the field, 5-for-8 on 3-pointers, and 7-for-9 at the line, two of those with 23.1 seconds left that gave Darlington a critical four-point lead. Hall also had six rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
“He’s just one of the keys to the program,” West said. “He battled his tail off and gets 30 points, not by being a selfish player, but just doing what the defense allows. I’m super proud of him. It couldn’t happen to a better person.”
Darlington (30-2) has been building toward this moment. The Tigers were 20-9 last year and returned the right mixture of veterans and youngsters to make a run. Senior Cam Selig had nine points and eight rebounds and 6-foot-8 freshman Joseph Ogunyemi had four rebounds before fouling out.
“They’re a special group,” West said. “They’ve been together for a long time and they work their tails off year-round in the weight room, in preseason, in the postseason. They enjoy that process mainly because of each other. And seeing it all come to life for them and pay off is special.”
Holy Innocents’ (25-4) was led by Belmont signee Devin Hutcherson, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Jaden McCullough added 12 points and six rebounds with two blocked shots and Jordan Mays scored 10 points.
Holy Innocents’ jumped out to a 12-6 start as Darlington missed its first six shots and made only 3-of-17 in the first quarter. But the Tigers found their footing in the second quarter and took a 13-12 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers by Brent Bell and Hall.
“I try to be really positive with them on the bench,” West said. “You know, we were fine, we were just trying to get them to respond the right way. We were forcing some possessions, forcing some shots. They made some baskets, as they should. That’s a great team, an experienced team. They’ve been here before.”
Three-pointers remained a friend for Darlington, which hit six in the first half. Nate Pitts and Hall connected on consecutive treys late in the half and the Tigers built a 25-17 lead. Darlington led 25-23 at halftime.
The game was tied three different times in the third period before Darlington scored on consecutive baskets by Ogunyemi and Selig, both at the end of fast breaks, to take a 42-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
Darlington managed to hold off the Bears, who narrowed the lead to 44-43 with 3:20 left, only to have Hall take over with a couple of driving baskets, one and over-the-shoulder reverse layup that provided a five-point lead.
Darlington could have clinched it at the line but was only 3-for-8 in the last minute. Holy Innocents’ had a chance to tie at the buzzer when Hutcherson came up empty on a 3-pointer with one second left.
Box score and stats
Holy Innocents’ – 12-11-15-12—50
Darlington – 6-19-17-11--53
Holy Innocents’: Jordan Mays 10, Jaden McCullough 12, Devin Hutcherson 13, King Araujo 7, Khalid Worthy 8.
Darlington: Jordan Wilkerson 3, Brent Bell 4, D.J. Hall 30, Trey Moore 2, Cam Selig 9, Nate Pitts 3, Joseph Ogunyemi 2.
About the Author
Stan Awtrey has been covering sports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1977. He currently writes about high school sports, Georgia State University athletics and golf.
