Uncle Drew and the MRA Patriots are the MPSA Overall State Champions! The following is the article that was in the Clarion Ledger about the win. Click here to see more pictures.
Andrew was selected to the All-Star team and will be playing in that game today. I've got tons of pictures that I'll share very soon. We are so proud of Uncle Drew!
MRA's Andrew Howell, making a steal late in the game, scored eight straight points in the final period as the Patriots put away Hillcrest 46-42.
UNLIKELY HERO SEALS MRA WIN — Ryan Goolsby scored 14 points in the second half and Andrew Howell had an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter, but the biggest shots in Saturday's MPSA Overall championship game came from Kyle Grantham, a player Madison-Ridgeland Academy coach Richard Duease didn't want on his team.
"I tried to discourage him from coming out, but he wanted to and he kept working," Duease said about Grantham, who made two foul shots with 5.8 seconds left to clinch the Patriots' 46-42 victory over Hillcrest Academy before an estimated 3,000 at Mississippi College's Wood Coliseum. "He was a big contributor to our team winning this year."
"There was lots of pressure, but I was prepared for it and confident in my shot," said Grantham, who watched the past two years before trying out as a senior. "I'll always remember this, shooting the last clutch shots to end my career. This was really special."
MRA's defense of last year's Overall crown marks the first time a fourth-place qualifier has even reached the final game, but the bracket placement meant little.
"We were the fourth seed, but I don't consider us the fourth team in AAA," Duease said. "Pillow beat us last week (in the AAA State tourney) and we didn't give much of an effort in the Jackson Academy game. I just think that helped us adjust and get focused again for one week, one hard push."
MRA (33-9) pushed its man defense to the limit and forced 11 turnovers but couldn't convert baskets during an offensively challenged first half.
"It was 13-13 at halftime, so obviously it was very physical," said Goolsby, a 6-foot-4 junior who finished with a game-high 20 points. "Coach Duease said I was settling too much, being mediocre out there. He told me to start pounding it inside (and) right now, I'm feeling pain all over my body."
Goolsby scored the first eight points in the third quarter to put MRA up 21-15.
Emmanuel Ezejiofo (11 points, 11 rebounds, 7 turnovers) answered for the Cougars (34-7) in the post.
Ezejiofo scored seven straight points and a 3-pointer by Bradley Parker put Hillcrest up two headed into the final frame, but that's when the wheels came off.
"In the beginning of the fourth quarter," said Cougars coach James Crain, "we turned the ball over like three, four times in a row and didn't get any shots."
Meanwhile, a teardrop by freshman guard Caleb Miskelly started a 12-0 run as MRA moved the ball around Hillcrest's 1-3-1 zone.
"They have so much height and are so long, they try to get you to go inside and block your shot ... (but) Coach (Duease) told us in practice that there were a lot of holes," said Howell, who hit two 3-pointers and a scoop layup while Hillcrest was held scoreless in the fourth quarter's first four minutes.
"Hitting the outside shots was huge because it freed up our big guys and then the big guys scoring freed up the outside."
Down 10, the Cougars were forced out of the defense that got them to their first Overall final since winning the title in 2003.
"We couldn't let them just stand there and pass it around," Crain said. "We had to come out and put pressure on the ball."
The full-court man pressure and big shots by Parker (13 points) got the Cougars close, but that would just set the stage for Grantham.
"Kyle didn't know it was a big moment," Duease said. "He was just glad to be there, and we were glad to have him there."
UNLIKELY HERO SEALS MRA WIN — Ryan Goolsby scored 14 points in the second half and Andrew Howell had an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter, but the biggest shots in Saturday's MPSA Overall championship game came from Kyle Grantham, a player Madison-Ridgeland Academy coach Richard Duease didn't want on his team.
"I tried to discourage him from coming out, but he wanted to and he kept working," Duease said about Grantham, who made two foul shots with 5.8 seconds left to clinch the Patriots' 46-42 victory over Hillcrest Academy before an estimated 3,000 at Mississippi College's Wood Coliseum. "He was a big contributor to our team winning this year."
"There was lots of pressure, but I was prepared for it and confident in my shot," said Grantham, who watched the past two years before trying out as a senior. "I'll always remember this, shooting the last clutch shots to end my career. This was really special."
MRA's defense of last year's Overall crown marks the first time a fourth-place qualifier has even reached the final game, but the bracket placement meant little.
"We were the fourth seed, but I don't consider us the fourth team in AAA," Duease said. "Pillow beat us last week (in the AAA State tourney) and we didn't give much of an effort in the Jackson Academy game. I just think that helped us adjust and get focused again for one week, one hard push."
MRA (33-9) pushed its man defense to the limit and forced 11 turnovers but couldn't convert baskets during an offensively challenged first half.
"It was 13-13 at halftime, so obviously it was very physical," said Goolsby, a 6-foot-4 junior who finished with a game-high 20 points. "Coach Duease said I was settling too much, being mediocre out there. He told me to start pounding it inside (and) right now, I'm feeling pain all over my body."
Goolsby scored the first eight points in the third quarter to put MRA up 21-15.
Emmanuel Ezejiofo (11 points, 11 rebounds, 7 turnovers) answered for the Cougars (34-7) in the post.
Ezejiofo scored seven straight points and a 3-pointer by Bradley Parker put Hillcrest up two headed into the final frame, but that's when the wheels came off.
"In the beginning of the fourth quarter," said Cougars coach James Crain, "we turned the ball over like three, four times in a row and didn't get any shots."
Meanwhile, a teardrop by freshman guard Caleb Miskelly started a 12-0 run as MRA moved the ball around Hillcrest's 1-3-1 zone.
"They have so much height and are so long, they try to get you to go inside and block your shot ... (but) Coach (Duease) told us in practice that there were a lot of holes," said Howell, who hit two 3-pointers and a scoop layup while Hillcrest was held scoreless in the fourth quarter's first four minutes.
"Hitting the outside shots was huge because it freed up our big guys and then the big guys scoring freed up the outside."
Down 10, the Cougars were forced out of the defense that got them to their first Overall final since winning the title in 2003.
"We couldn't let them just stand there and pass it around," Crain said. "We had to come out and put pressure on the ball."
The full-court man pressure and big shots by Parker (13 points) got the Cougars close, but that would just set the stage for Grantham.
"Kyle didn't know it was a big moment," Duease said. "He was just glad to be there, and we were glad to have him there."
