Every possession counted for the Milano Eagle basketball team this past Wednesday in their 50-38 win at Hearne, where they beat one of Class 2A’s most reputable programs just three years removed from a state tournament appearance.
Going into the game, MHS head basketball coach Lee Essman said that leaving Robertson County with a victory was all about maintaining control.
“Our mentality was that we wanted to play our game,” Essman said. “Too many times this season, we’ve let other teams dictate to us how we play.”
“I think we played our Milano Eagle basketball. I was worried about Hearne speeding us up. Because when you speed kids up, they make bad decisions.”
Milano led for the entirety of the game, but Hearne was never out of the way for good. In the third when MHS led 32-24, Hearne hit two quick shots in less than a minute to make it 32-29 and the majority of the game was similar to that particular time frame.
It wasn’t until the final two minutes of the game when MHS junior Jayce Todd dunked twice on two straight possessions to clinch a victory for his team.
Todd led Milano with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 5 blocks while Weston Avrett had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Ethan Gordon had 9 points and Layne Telg scored 1 with 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Bryson Weaver scored 5 with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Gael Alcala and Greg Storey also saw a lot of playing time for the Eagles in Wednesday’s win.
LAST WEEK—The night before heading to Hearne, Milano beat Holland Tuesday 59-55 after not practicing for five days when an increase in COVID-19 cases shut the district down days before.
The Eagles got their third win in four days on Friday in Thrall, where they beat the Tigers 73-48.
Avrett led the Eagles with 24 and Todd had 20. Richards had 13 and Telg scored 10.
Going forward, Essman emphasized that his team is focused on improving every single game.
“We talked about us being a sword that a blacksmith forges and we’re trying to sharpen it,” Essman said. “We’ve formed the sword and now we have to sharpen it.”
Essman also mentioned that a tough pre-season schedule is starting to pay dividends for his 3-0 team.
“We probably have the toughest schedule that I’ve ever put on a team in my coaching career,” he said. “We’ve played some tough teams and been to tournaments that maybe we didn’t have any business being at. But I knew that there’s not going to be a single team in our district that’s going to be tough as some of the teams we’ve played this year.”
The third-year Eagle coach also added that his starters sometimes go up against a team of seven or eight guys in practice to help replicate game speed and prepare them for their schedule.
THIS WEEK—Milano faced Granger on Tuesday after press time and face Thorndale, the other undefeated team in District 27-2A on Friday.
Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., at home.
LADY EAGLES—Milano’s girls basketball team is also coming off a successful week, winning two of their three games last week.
Despite a 51-13 loss in Hearne last Wednesday, the Lady Eagles beat Holland 36-27 the day before and took down Thrall 44-37 on Friday evening.
Leading scorers for MHS were Aaliyah McBrewer with 13 and Laynie Rose, who had 9.
Other scorers for MHS were Shakeva Gooden, Natalie Compton and Kylee Harris, who each had 5. Kadance Koenig scored 4 while Montgomery Popham and Malinda Gordon scored 2 and 1 points respectively.
THIS WEEK—The Lady Eagles played in Granger Tuesday and take on Thorndale for the second time this season on Friday evening in Milano. Game time is 6:15 p.m.
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